ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a landscape photographer navigating my way through the Northern California landscape. My work is deeply inspired by my childhood past time: camping in the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz mountains. Without knowing it at the time, I was constantly observing the way that the lights filtered through each layer of this ecosystem. I connected feelings of wonder and exploration to this particular landscape. I grew a connection to these plants and trees and saw these spaces as magical spaces.
Through photography I am able to observe these unique and exciting moments within the forest and reconstruct them within the context of an untouched gallery space. My process involves long, remote hikes with my medium or large format camera. The act of image making is deeply tied to the way in which my body is reacting to the space around me: It grounds me to these spaces that are wildly interconnected and grants me a role in the web. The romanticized and idealistic earth portraits allow us to see the world through rose-colored glasses of a wide-eyed child in the woods. My goal is to inspire others to slow down and appreciate these spaces that are much larger and more important than we are.