Born Into Chaos

If eyes are a window to the soul, what would we see?

Would we see wealth or oppression?

Would we see a life used as the foundation for other’s success?

Or would we see a reflection of who we are?

A child, born into chaos, floating through the ether.

We breathe the same air, and walk the same soil.

We wake up to the same sun, and stare in awe at the same starry night.

We all feel love, comfort, sadness, hope;

The chill of winter, and the warmth of spring.

But over time, we learn about hatred, intolerance.

We are taught to unravel the common threads that bind us together.

One-by-one, we cast off those who are different.

We cut the perceived blights from our collective family tree.

Burying them with our own ignorance.

And for what?

An Inevitable Outcome

Whenever I spend time people watching, I always like to imagine what their lives are like. What are they doing? Where are they going? Do they have many friends? Are they lonely? In certain situations, I inevitably end up feeling sad. Not because I feel like my life is so much more grand than theirs, but because I understand that everybody exists living with some degree of hopelessness, and I feel theirs, just as I sometimes feel mine. Their lives, or whatever story I create in my mind, unfold before me, and they disappear from my life just as quickly as they’ve entered it. I think it’s an inevitable outcome for anyone who enjoys photographing strangers, but it seems necessary to me.

The Outer Reaches of Space

Music has always been a huge part of my life. At a young age, my mother forced me to play the piano for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I hated every minute of it. It wasn’t until I quit taking lessons 7 years later that I really started to appreciate it. These days, if I get a chance, I still like to sit down and play what I can remember, but if I could learn any new instrument, it would be the violin. It is such a passionate instrument that elicits so much emotion. Hopefully one of these days i'll be able to sit down and give it a try.

In a nondescript building nestled in downtown Salt Lake City, sits one of the world’s top violin making schools, where people from all over spend years learning the intricacies that are required to produce the instruments that in turn create the music that moves the deepest part of the soul.

I spent some time walking around, shooting some photos, watching how focused all the students were, and the level of attentiveness was mind blowing. Throughout my time there, they talked to each other, and told jokes, but when it came time to work on their violin, their gaze steadied and the conversations drifted off into the outer reaches of space.

The Faceless Have Names

Guangzhou, China- The faceless have names, but we don't know them.  They have lives that we can only imagine.  Their feelings and dreams escape us constantly, but within an image, we can see it, feel it. They feel just as we feel; heartache, happiness, love, desire.  Each day we wake up in the morning, our eyes opening after a sleepless night.  Scanning the ceiling, we make an effort to move.  We consciously force ourselves out of bed.  Why? Because every human being on the planet has an innate desire to be someone.  We go to school, brush our hair, put on clothes, all because we want to be remembered.  For some, though, it isn't about being remembered, it's about surviving.

Shadows and Textures

Simferopol, Ukraine- I love photographing people.  Not anybody specific, just every day people that are going about their lives, doing what they need to do to survive.  They're so mysterious.  Full of emotion.  One way I enjoy shooting them is finding a backdrop that I'm really in love with.  in this case, i was really drawn to the long shadows cast by the air conditioner and the texture on the wall and window covers.  When I find my backdrop, I'll start to people-watch, which is really my favorite part.  When you find someone that you really want to shoot, you have to make sure that their body positioning feels natural.  You either get this by being a badass and shooting exactly when you need to, or you do what I do and shoot a as much as you can.