Diagram Of a Copernican Universe (2014)
"diagram of a copernican universe" is a photographic series shot on medium format, color film, inspired by the Nicolaus Copernicus's revolutionary astronomical model of 1543 that positioned the Sun at the center of the Universe as opposed to the Earth. This model radically questioned, and debunked, the long-standing belief that Earth was the center of the universe and everything revolved around it.
The series presents a visual juxtaposition of small, everyday objects against the background of our vast universe. The objects appear to be attempting to mirror or interact with their majestic backdrop. But the insignificance of plastic rings, a single piece of fruit, or loose crayons becomes heightened amidst the rings of Saturn and the topology of Mars...a futile attempt to chart our presence in a universe larger than ourselves.
The series presents a visual juxtaposition of small, everyday objects against the background of our vast universe. The objects appear to be attempting to mirror or interact with their majestic backdrop. But the insignificance of plastic rings, a single piece of fruit, or loose crayons becomes heightened amidst the rings of Saturn and the topology of Mars...a futile attempt to chart our presence in a universe larger than ourselves.
Queer Love (Ongoing)
"Queer Love" is a portrait series documenting the beauty and diversity of couples within the LGBTQ+ community. In a media landscape saturated with images of heterosexual love, these images attempt to highlight and "normalize" the existence and expression of queer love.
Our Bedroom (2016)
“Our Bedroom” is an intimate, documentary photo series that explores themes of femininity, body image, and privacy via bedroom portraits of girls in their twenties living in Los Angeles, California.
A girl’s bedroom functions as a unique space of feminine power and privacy. It is a sanctuary, an escape from parental control and a judgmental world, a space for unfiltered self-expression and exploration. Behind a locked bedroom door, a girl can escape into a domain ruled by herself alone.
“Our Bedroom” explores this space and its engagement with contemporary femininity, social mores, and body image through intimate portraits of girls in their twenties alone in their bedrooms. Shot entirely with natural light and no editing, the photographs present a glimpse into a quiet, unfiltered space of self-reflection meant for the subject as much as the viewer.
With today’s fast-paced culture of social media platforms, dating apps, and selfies, our definition of privacy and self-identity are rapidly evolving. Our Instagram feed, our Facebook statuses, our Tinder profiles...these are all filtered and carefully curated versions of ourselves that are updated at an alarmingly rapid speed. The notion of a quiet, self-reflective, meditative moment is nearly unheard of now, perhaps even frowned upon. What should be seen as necessary self care is often interpreted as anti-social, secretive, or selfish. “Our Bedroom" attempts to rewrite this narrative and embrace the importance of quiet, self reflection.
The shoot’s form mirrors its function; each individual shoot took at least an hour, often longer, at a quiet, slow pace to encourage self reflection. Each girl wore underwear, undershirts, slips, etc., anything that, outside of the realm of one’s own bedroom, would be considered “revealing”, but in the privacy and comfort of one’s own bedroom acts as a freeing instrument of body awareness and self love.
Ultimately, “our bedroom” strives to explore a unique time, space, and identity: being a girl, dis-crowned of her “teenager” title and navigating adulthood in a fast-paced, modern city. The series simultaneously asks questions and provokes actions. Why are intimate spaces important? What are the implications of entering such a space? When was the last time you were still? Quiet? Vulnerable? Alone, with yourself? It’s worth asking...and answering.
Welcome to our bedroom.
A girl’s bedroom functions as a unique space of feminine power and privacy. It is a sanctuary, an escape from parental control and a judgmental world, a space for unfiltered self-expression and exploration. Behind a locked bedroom door, a girl can escape into a domain ruled by herself alone.
“Our Bedroom” explores this space and its engagement with contemporary femininity, social mores, and body image through intimate portraits of girls in their twenties alone in their bedrooms. Shot entirely with natural light and no editing, the photographs present a glimpse into a quiet, unfiltered space of self-reflection meant for the subject as much as the viewer.
With today’s fast-paced culture of social media platforms, dating apps, and selfies, our definition of privacy and self-identity are rapidly evolving. Our Instagram feed, our Facebook statuses, our Tinder profiles...these are all filtered and carefully curated versions of ourselves that are updated at an alarmingly rapid speed. The notion of a quiet, self-reflective, meditative moment is nearly unheard of now, perhaps even frowned upon. What should be seen as necessary self care is often interpreted as anti-social, secretive, or selfish. “Our Bedroom" attempts to rewrite this narrative and embrace the importance of quiet, self reflection.
The shoot’s form mirrors its function; each individual shoot took at least an hour, often longer, at a quiet, slow pace to encourage self reflection. Each girl wore underwear, undershirts, slips, etc., anything that, outside of the realm of one’s own bedroom, would be considered “revealing”, but in the privacy and comfort of one’s own bedroom acts as a freeing instrument of body awareness and self love.
Ultimately, “our bedroom” strives to explore a unique time, space, and identity: being a girl, dis-crowned of her “teenager” title and navigating adulthood in a fast-paced, modern city. The series simultaneously asks questions and provokes actions. Why are intimate spaces important? What are the implications of entering such a space? When was the last time you were still? Quiet? Vulnerable? Alone, with yourself? It’s worth asking...and answering.
Welcome to our bedroom.
Los Angeles Vegetation (2014)
This photographic series, shot on medium format color film, documents debris found on the streets of my Downtown Los Angeles neighborhood. Aside from palm trees, the city's main form of vegetation seems to be abandoned mattresses, decaying metal, and tattered couches...sprouting up seemingly overnight. By turning my camera to street debris, I imbue each discarded item with newfound visual importance and beauty. The forgotten, "ugly" subject is reborn in a new light.
Eat Me (2014)
"Eat Me" combines the high-gloss, commercial look of advertising with the classic tradition of still life to comment on the fabrication and commercialization of increasingly unnatural, mass-produced food products.
Still life painting traditionally allowed for something fleeting (a vase of flowers, a bowl of fruit) to live on within the canvas. In contrast, the subjects of these tableaus (jelly beans, gummy candies, processed cakes) have a seemingly infinite shelf life. Furthermore, the traditional, still life medium of painting has been replaced by the instantaneous tools of digital, studio-lit photography to visually communicate a growing, consumerist demand for instantaneous gratification and colorful, factory-perfect products. These aesthetically pleasing, saturated images harbor a darker reality: our society's mass production and consumption of factory-created food products and sweets.
Still life painting traditionally allowed for something fleeting (a vase of flowers, a bowl of fruit) to live on within the canvas. In contrast, the subjects of these tableaus (jelly beans, gummy candies, processed cakes) have a seemingly infinite shelf life. Furthermore, the traditional, still life medium of painting has been replaced by the instantaneous tools of digital, studio-lit photography to visually communicate a growing, consumerist demand for instantaneous gratification and colorful, factory-perfect products. These aesthetically pleasing, saturated images harbor a darker reality: our society's mass production and consumption of factory-created food products and sweets.
Reel (2014)
"Reel" is a photographic series featuring bound, academic anthologies of Film Journals. The placement of the anthologies and intimacy of the shots creates a visual dialogue with a long history of film production and critique. A single volume of "Women & Film" stands alone in a dark abyss, a nod to the historic lack of women in the film and television industry. "Illusions" lean against each other, harkening to the individual photographic frames that together create the grand illusion of movement that is cinema (made possible as well by the "Sighlines" of our two eyes). In this series, "Cinema" fills up the entire screen with its black letters on orange binding, threatening to go out of frame...a suggestion of the continued evolution and advancement of film. Ultimately, the portraits of film journals acts as both a love letter to, and critique of, cinema itself.
Flower Boys (2018)
"Flower Boys" is a photographic portrait series that simultaneously highlights and subverts the gendering of roles, colors, and objects.
We live in a society that's quick to categorize and label things: blue is for boys, pink is for girls, flowers are feminine, collared shirts are masculine... The role of a "flower girl" has been cemented into this western tradition of gendered roles and categorizations. With "Flower Boys" I play with a competition of traditionally masculine and feminine visual cues. The light blue background for each subject represents a "feminizing" of a stereotypically masculine color, by turning a dark "boy blue" into a lighter "girly" pastel blue. Each subject holds flowers and wears clothing ranging from a "wife beater" shirt (tied to a history of toxic masculinity in media) to a lace shirt (sold in the women's section of clothing stores). The series invites viewers to question their own stereotypes of gender and aims to create imagery that celebrates the fluidity and diversity of gender expression, particularly the power behind men embracing their femininity.
We live in a society that's quick to categorize and label things: blue is for boys, pink is for girls, flowers are feminine, collared shirts are masculine... The role of a "flower girl" has been cemented into this western tradition of gendered roles and categorizations. With "Flower Boys" I play with a competition of traditionally masculine and feminine visual cues. The light blue background for each subject represents a "feminizing" of a stereotypically masculine color, by turning a dark "boy blue" into a lighter "girly" pastel blue. Each subject holds flowers and wears clothing ranging from a "wife beater" shirt (tied to a history of toxic masculinity in media) to a lace shirt (sold in the women's section of clothing stores). The series invites viewers to question their own stereotypes of gender and aims to create imagery that celebrates the fluidity and diversity of gender expression, particularly the power behind men embracing their femininity.
Insomniac Dance (2018)
These photographs serve simultaneously as a literal cataloguing and visual representation of insomnia. The dizzying effects were created entirely in-camera, utilizing movement and long exposures at 3am during a bout of insomnia. The light came from the moon and a solitary street lamp in the distance, a pairing reminiscent of the natural sleep cycles and artificial stimulants in competition within the body of an insomniac.