I have so much to share, and so much to say.. that it’s a bit overwhelming actually. Last year was the busiest year of my life. I shared the least, but I took more photographs last year than any other year by far. I’m not quite sure when the shift happened, and why it became an afterthought to share what I was working on. For the first time in my life, I actually don’t feel imposter syndrome. I feel something else.. a shift in priorities, goals.. as I kept my head down and worked, and accomplished so many of the goals I set for myself.. I realized that it still didn’t feel all that fulfilling. It was weird. I’ve worked with some of the biggest artists I’ve ever worked with last year, people I’ve looked up to my whole life, and it still didn’t hit the way I expected. But then at the very end of the year, I met my niece for the first time.. and I felt a joy that I had never felt before. And it made it so clear to me that family, and my loved ones, and spending time with them is the only thing that really matters in the end. I’m still very thankful for my life, and the fact that I have made a living as a photographer in New York. Younger me would be so fucking proud. I am thankful to everyone who has supported me and been patient with me over the years. It’s about time to start sharing all of this shit now lol sorry for always being so in my head all the time 😅🖤
The honor of my lifetime. To have photographed two of my favorite artists ever, still feels so surreal. The journey to this point still makes no sense to me. Like, how did I get here? Me? I recently visited my family in Massachusetts and my grandmother hugged me, in tears and told me how proud she was of me. And upon reflecting on the busiest summer of my life, and my time in New York so far, I feel pretty damn proud of myself too. Literally thank you to everyone who’s been a part of this wild journey. I am always so grateful for the amount of love in my life.
These photographs are really special to me. This shoot was the perfect blend of my past and current work; Revisiting where I first started my artistic journey in Woodstock/Canton Georgia, with one of the first people I started making art with @caseydoran_ , while also shooting with one of my newer favorite people to create with @kunst_kaegan . And getting to do it with @antidotestyle . Truly these photographs mean a lot to me. My younger self would be really proud of these images and how far I’ve come in life; I owe it to myself to be proud now too.
I’m glad I’m always taking pictures. Sometimes life can pass by so quickly, it feels like a blur.. a very beautiful blur. Thankfully I’ll always have these photographs of my favorite people and moments.
Some recent favorite pictures I’ve made with my silly toy camera. Let me know if you have a favorite 🧸 (:
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Taking a moment to be proud of myself instead of being hard on myself. I tend to down play the things I’ve accomplished over my journey as a photographer. But moving forward, I owe it to myself, family, friends and supporters to celebrate myself and actually allow myself to be celebrated. Take a compliment, and feel good about it. Accept the flaws and mistakes in every project or photo, and still be proud. We’re doing better than we think, we’re doing our best, and that’s more than good enough. Also, I want to thank @jared_hogan for trusting me to help with this project!
I love photography. I love taking pictures of my life, my loved ones, and my silly little ideas. I struggle with photography often though. I struggle with knowing what to photograph next, or what to do with the photographs I’ve made already, and especially with posting them on here. It feels silly to say out loud, but I’m sure many photographers, and artists of all kind, can relate. For me, the trick has always been to find my way back to why I started making art in the first place, and to let go of my newly formed idea of “success”. The goal has always been to express myself freely, and connect with those who are like minded. I think I’ve done a good job at that so far, but I’ve gotten sidetracked many times along the journey. It’s time to be silly and free again. I hope we can all shed ourselves of this weight of perception and be as human as possible. Anyway, I’m rambling now. Hope you all had a lovely weekend. 🖤
