Artist Statement

A person, a camera and a subject. This is a photographer. A person not afraid to lose seconds of his/her life with every click of the shutter in order to capture a moment in time. Sounds cheesy? In my experience I have found that statement to be true. On countless occasions I have excused myself from a scenario just so I could take a picture of it. I find that in stealing that moment I am somehow connected to it and for each photo I take from the world I leave a piece of me in its place. Trying to encompass everything that an eye can capture is the folly of the photographer. It's almost unfair to have so much to weave with so little thread. Instead I hope to evoke reactions with my photographs. Whether they inspire or disgust or please is not for me to decide, as an artist I'm only trying to light a fire under an audience.

In my directorial photo shoots, I aim to be unconventional but very much conceptual. The majority of my work is incited by inequality and prejudices of the world. Dominance and submission are two key elements that are consistent in my photographs. One thing I've tried to do is turn figurative ideas into poignant and graspable works. Something an audience can identify with even if only empathetically and not directly. I don't expect everyone to feel the same, but I do expect an opinion. The enemy of the artist is an audience with no opinion about their art whatsoever. If my ideas come to fruition and it strikes a chord with an individual, then I've succeeded as an artist.

Photography has allowed me to give shape to thoughts, beliefs and emotions. It takes that which is intangible and makes it real, or perhaps is it the other way around? Where something that was once real, and captured on camera, is now intangible. This is how we are survived and become legendary, through photos. It has the power to shape things not yet seen and I hope that my pictures will one day etch themselves into memories not just my own. This is what I strive for. Me, a camera and a subject.