"Preservation Is A Priority..." I salvage what I can. I record bits and pieces of my life using any device available. I have an archive of voicemail messages from friends and family that I save in case it may be the last time I may ever hear their voice. I am afraid of losing the people close to me. Most of all, I fear forgetting them. I have always been sentimental in nature, feeding off of emotion for sustenance rather than practicality. Preservation is a priority. My photographs preserve in a visual language my thoughts and feelings that I struggle to relay with words. They are my memories emulsified on a negative strip and a story in an image. Taking photographs has constructed a pathway from my inner introvert-inclined self to the vast, unpredictable and chaotic world from which it hides. I thrive on portraiture. People in their natural environments intrigue me. I am an observer and an analyzer. My images are honest, evoking the raw aesthetic of my subject’s habitat. I am propelled to encapsulate their essence within a frame and then try to figure out why I was drawn to them in the first place. Through my series of self-portraits, I am continuing to get to know myself and understand who I have become. I am always evolving. The process of working with 35mm film, for me, is as intimate and personal as the images created from it. My eyes wander the surface of skin, studying the faces of my subjects as parts move in rhythm to the words they speak. Tears swell up in pools cradled within their eyes as they tell their stories of hardships. I mentally trace the contours and curves of their cheeks as they laugh and then get lost in the maze of lines that adorn their visage like medals and ribbons for having persevered through the obstacles of life. Then, I watch these same faces slowly appear through the rippling waves of chemicals in red-light darkness while in the safe-haven of my solitude. I am reminded of our connection. I am reminded that human interaction is valuable. I am made aware that though our surfaces vary, what is within us all is our own sea of mystery. While we may not have fully explored our own, it is with the understanding that we all carry complexities that we can better accept the ones we may discover in ourselves. I respect the people that I photograph and they hold a place in my memory; in my mind and through the lens of my camera. |