Artist Statement

Through the course of making these photographs, my relationship to America and the medium of photography has grown heavier. What was once a creeping feeling is now fully visible. My country is broken, and I fear it may be beyond repair. If you believe the myth, you aren’t paying attention. The America of these images is gone, replaced by something darker, more paranoid, more self-destructive. For many it has always been a difficult and unjust land. When I look at these images, I think about how soon we will all be gone. Life will go on, in all its beauty, all its terribleness. I think about how heavy it feels to move through life but how light my efforts are when made tangible in the form of photographs. Like smoke. Unable to change a damn thing. Despite my predisposition towards despair, I hope that America’s arc can drift towards peace, justice, and equity. I made these photographs in search of a shared humanity, intimacy with strangers, out of the desire for an expanded empathy