artist's statement

To a point, photographs have little value other than simply being a record of what has happened. I am constantly capturing the people around me, the sources of my inspiration, in hopes of keeping those moments forever. But every so often, a photograph will transcend its technical function and invoke more than just what is seen. What precisely it is that marks this success is still elusive.

Art is a wildly terrifying experience for me, during which I always start out with absolutely no idea what I am doing, working in panic until in one moment it clicks and the end makes sense and all I need to do now is barrel at breakneck speed towards it. But the best design is often the most invisible, effortlessly perfect without sign of struggle.

My thesis explores the unbridled candor and humor in the young men portrayed, whose unabashed and brazen actions are the essence of the fleeting existence of our youth.

“You can’t help but wonder at just how sweet and sad and innocent all moments of life are rendered by the tripping of a camera’s shutter, for at that point the future is still unknown and has yet to hurt us, and also, for that brief moment, our poses are accepted as honest.” – Douglas Coupland