In my lone figure series I explore the themes of isolation by looking at urban decay and the lone figure.  The figures interaction in these desolate locations reflect the life my models are experiencing. We as humans, still exploring who we are to become in this big, unknown and sometimes lost world. Urban decay is the epitome of a plan gone wrong. Sometimes things do not go the way that we expect them to. As humans, we are just starting to figuring this out. That life is about how you deal with the unexpected. There is a constant contrast between being alone yet having so much to explore. I use people within my conceptual work to give the viewer a personal connection. My models rarely look at the camera directly. This allows the viewer to put themselves into each piece and mentally explore the where and why.

Here is a display of my wildlife portfolio. I was very fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to visit South Africa multiple times growing up. I even had the opportunity to train as a safari guide for a summer during my high school years both in South Africa and Botswana. Some of my greatest experiences have come from the African bushveld and I am lucky enough to be able to capture and share all my great sightings.

Here is a display of my images from my time in Africa.

Here is a display of my photography from my time doing mission work in Mexico.

Mercy

"Life asked death, 'Why do people love me but hate you?' Death responded, “Because you are a beautiful lie and I am a painful truth." (Author unknown) This is a series photographed at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help hospice center. This focus is on the people who help the patients, the Nuns, nurses, and priest, as well as the patients themselves. I was able to follow Father Paul Burke, a Catholic priest, on his daily emotional journey. I witnessed his role in giving the sacraments to the sick and administering their last rights to those who are about to die. This place is a hidden place of refuge, where one can receive comfort while dying.

Death is inevitable, but shunned as a topic. I most wanted to acknowledge those who not only embrace this reality, but also the people who give up everything to help the sick. What the nuns and the priest, and all the caretakers are doing is so important because they give dignity to the dying. Although they get little recognition for what they are doing, they receive so much joy from their work. people often completely give up on those that are dying and these people who do not are truly selfless and special.

It is more comfortable to ignore this subject then to consider that death can come at anytime. I am sharing my experience in documenting, through my photography, the extraordinary actions of these special people assisting in this process of dying, and there by opening up the conversation about death itself.

Live

Within this body of work I explore myself and various people in survival mode. With the world changing so rapidly, and society going from one disaster to the next you never know when you will wake up and find our world in the apocalypse. I have photographed various people with weapons to defend themselves, or them holding things that they would defend themselves with or things that would be worth defending. These portraits serve almost as character posters for their post apocalyptic selves. The emotions I capture within these portraits contain nothing but sheer intensity, and the low key lighting they are in pushes that idea even more. My greatest inspiration for this work is The Walking Dead. For a couple of seasons they did really low key character portraits of the cast, and that gritty high contrast style has always stood out to me the most. Within The Walking Dead each character has their own signature weapon or look. I have set out to do this with various people by photographing their overall persona with the weapons they own themselves.