Florida Gifts for Less
inspired by Shelley Niro's "T-shirt" series made in 2003 (ironically the year I was born). I first saw this work in January at the V&A American Photographs exhibition, and resonated with the performance that utilized the white graphic t-shirt as reflective commentary of American tourism and calling out the irreparable damage done to indigenous people and their land during the westward expansion in North America.
In this iteration, I utilize the same core technique for my own commentary with the white t-shirt, but I focus on the certain aspects of Floridian culture that are integrated within suburbia that have always been hypocritical to me.
The retention pond has become a common home in suburban towns within Florida where displaced alligators often live. While alligators are still being used as an iconic and prideful symbol of Floridan life, alligators have perfectly exemplified how stripped, tokenized, and performative suburbia and Floridian identity can often be. We see that rigid design, greed, and violence towards the same people ignorant to it captured in this allegory of the American alligator. We are suffering within our own desired structures. The second t-shirt is a direct victim of exploitative identities towards over tourism and consumer culture. So psychologically complex and normalized that Disney memorabilia becomes one of the most accessible types of clothing to lower and middle class residents within Orlando, Florida. This is due to a constant revolving door of over-consumption designed to celebrate a post-ironic marketed nostalgia. These items are not fulfilling representations of your longed memories.
The location of a studio is supposed to be a reflection of where I am at in life currently. Studying a medium that I hope to do forever and learning to seamlessly express my ideas through my work and words , with people I've met currently living and working as artists in their own right.
Hope you enjoy! This was my first time making a film that I actually like lol, and I used 4x5 large format negatives to document this moment. comment 🐊 if you read this.
Recent News
I had the first exhibition I've ever been a part of internationally at @lcflondon_ with my @mafashionphotography cohort, and this image is a part of some recent iterations I've made exploring different thematic pillars I want to hone in on when I begin my final thesis torturously soon lol.
In short, this specific photo project is about exploitive markers of identity and how that psychologically affects those who are groomed into it. I was about to explain the long version, but I'll save that for my submission, for now😂
I'm very proud of the work me and my classmates/friends have been creating during our time in this course. To be able to showcase our iterations gives us the space to clear up the mental fog that I definitely tend to get blinded by when hyper fixating on making "good and powerful" photographs.
I am also excited to announce (demurely, I hope) that one of my photographs from this exhibition "Maya in a mickey shirt" got through to the second round of judging for the @nationalportraitgallery Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize here in London. This means I will present a final printed image to the judges for them to convene and (very hopefully) be one of a select 40-60 photographs to be showcased inside the National Portrait Gallery later this November. This is a personally life-altering opportunity and I'm happy to have even made it to this second round. I'm humbled and thankful to everyone who's helped me in every single minor possible way ever.
Special thanks for being open to my creepy story post when I was looking for someone to model for this Maya<3 @waterb4by
shoutout to @chenlinopt
& @laryrauh for taking and editing some awesome photos of the exhibition!! (and @ccm_photography
for doing Michael Jackson proper justice since birth) __________________
#photography #fineart #contemporaryphotogaphy #art #fashionphotography
Maya in a Mickey shirt
The body of work I’ve been creating during my time at LCF has a lot to do with the complicated experience and feelings I have towards where I was born and raised, Orlando FL. Not only the culture I’ve witnessed and been apart of, but how my own personal morals and geographical identity contradict with those cultural ideologies. This has always left me confused about who I am and where I belong.
Model- @waterb4by
Photography- @stella_temporal
Styling- @stella_temporal@waterb4by
MA developments in London and Florida
Beautiful people I got to take pictures of while trying to find my artistic footing here in London. It’s hard knowing what you’re getting into when moving to a different country feels so much bigger than you. Luckily I’ve met the most amazing and talented new friends who took a leap of faith and invested into their own creative personhood to pursue visual art, collaboration, and autonomy within fashion photography. I’m in awe of everyone.
Let me know what you think!
Models-
@ccm_photography@swan.jpg_
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Big Sister for @melistunceer
I was asked to create an editorial for Melis earlier this year, and I felt so connected to the subject matter and objective of this mock magazine project. With a balance of sexual self expression and embracing the transition into early womanhood. Very much about self perception and transitioning into a new set of rules and expectations that are enforced, unwelcome, and starkly different from what has been. Utilizing forms of concealment to reflect an exhaustion towards performance and the “sexually unknowing feminine” caricature normalized in media and associated with women and sex. Essentially, it’s about awareness.
Let me know what you think!
Models-
Zeynep Koseman
@rojkucukoba
Stylist- @eren_tuncer
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C.VEREEN by @thewhereaboutsofcadence
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Took these photographs in May or April of 2025, and I am finally far away enough to see what I liked about them. Hopefully able to see what you might like in them as well. It was an honor to photograph these beautiful people and this beautiful collection. Getting back posting as per the last post I made over a month ago lol. Gonna get more relevant as I post throughout these next few weeks but good to be back and active. Let me know what you think! Hope everyone’s well<3
Designer- @thewhereaboutsofcadence
Models-
@maxtheemagician@aidast0ne@baileybrennanb@itshaileymoore@its_dreav@laurencitronn
Photographer- me
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do hashtags even do anything anymore?😭
#photography #fashion #pleasegetmehighbudgetcommisionorillcry
-2025 dump-
This year has been anything but neutral..... and it’s hard caring to post my work and broadcast what I am creating for more reasons than one. I haven’t posted a yearly wrap up for two years, and that’s because 2024 ended poorly, especially after Donald trump won the 2024 presidential elections. I lost some friendships, and have been on a trajectory in my life that has forced me to create a moral re-structure for my career and re-enforce standards I hold myself and the people I surround myself with to more then ever. I realize the responsibility I have to know what the fuck I’m talking about, and what my work in this life is for. Half of this year was me not making anything, and it’s left me feeling debilitated and useless. At the same time, the highs in my life this year have been like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It’s crazy how these two sides have existed at once. The people I’ve met and grown closer to, the experiences I’ve opened myself up to, the risks I’ve taken has led me to where I have always dreamed of being. And I’ve been privileged enough to be put into rooms with people I never would have met if I stayed wallowed up in my feelings of guilt and anger. I’ve worked for a lot of what I’ve achieved but it’s been from a place of proving myself and others wrong and I’m not sure how okay I am with that. This isn’t a happy ending post but I am glad to still be here and still have this platform and you. If your still reading put a 🫰 in your comment lol. This year I will get back to sharing what I love without feeling bad about it, cause we all have to practice what we preach!
Heres to 2026:)
-film of Atlanta ----------------
I am about to graduate at the end of May. I will be receiving my BFA in Fine Art Photography with a minor in Fashion Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design. This is my official goodbye love letter to Atlanta before I go on to pursue a masters in Europe (still undecided). Hopefully I will begin a new life there, opening myself up to a new world of art and opportunities.
but for now, here's some photos!
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#photography
Koman on Valentines Day
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Scans by @wolfcameraphotodesign
special thanks to @hanes for keepin it all in
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#photography #photovogue #analoguephotography #fujifilm #contemporary #fineart #art #photo #canonphotography
Sweden and France
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Some analogue from a photo project I worked on in June. Have a lot more from that trip as well as other projects I have worked on for the last year that I can’t wait to share<3
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Shoutout to @_chris_suarez_ for being a model lol
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#movie #analogue #analoguefilm #fujifilm #fujifilmsuperia400 #girlhood #travelphotography #photography #documentaryphotography #photographer #visualart #light
