#saf52weekchallenge Week 9: Documentary

This is the last thing I thought I'd be creating for the theme "Documentary", but in the end, documentary means something true, and this is.

I don't like documenting reality, or the straightforward representations of my life. So this represents the burdens I - we - carry. For some of us, the only way to document our lives is through allegory. To represent the truth through lies:

"Artists use lies to tell the truth. Yes, I created a lie. But because you believed it, you found something true about yourself." -Alan Moore

I found this dead bird in my yard last week, and I thought, I want to document this. That's how art so often works. You see something, you desire to document it, and in doing so, it becomes something different than what it was.

Even through conceptual work, it's an honor to document my life and share it in the hope "you find something true about yourself," too.

"Albatross" self-portrait May 2025

1/52 - Beginnings.

This marks Week 1 of a 52 Week Challenge where we create a new piece of art every week for a year. I partnered with Sony Alpha Female to bring it to us for free. I'm releasing weekly themes, a monthly exclusive video, and sharing feedback with community members who participate.

Your natural reaction might be: I can't commit for a whole year. I can already think of weeks I won't be able to do this.

Or, you might think: I can't compete with others doing the same challenge.

Or even: If I can't do this perfectly, I'd rather not do it.

I'm just here to say: Those are the excuses that hold us back from doing anything at all. When we get to the ends of our lives, we'll either look back at the art we made with pride, or look back at the art we didn't make with regret.

I refuse to live in regret.

"Goddess of Beginnings" self-portrait April 2025

Join the group to join the challenge (it's free), and when sharing your images, use #SAF52WeekChallenge so we can find it!

www.facebook.com/groups/sonyalphafemale

Week 2/52. Theme: Red

What a dah-rama this was to make. My memory card wouldn't load on any device without formatting, so I spent all day Tuesday running it through four different recovery software programs before I finally found one to recover my files (disk drill did the job in the end). Normally I'd simply reshoot, but I filmed a whole BTS video to go along with it. That video is available to watch exclusively in the Alpha Female+ group, which anyone can join: www.facebook.com/groups/sonyalphafemale

If you're taking part in the #SAF52WeekChallenge we just finished Week 1! The work and stories being shared is nothing short of the purest inspiration. I'm on cloud 9 getting a front row seat to this communal creativity.

I started this challenge for this simple reason: We're better in community than individually. I want to be challenged personally to show up to create every week, but also to show up to support others every week. You never know how a simple comment can change the trajectory of someone's life.

"The Weight of Hope" self-portrait April 2025

A little surreal dreaming to escape for a while <3

"Gifts of Plenty" self-portrait 2025

For my 52 Week challenge, theme: fantasy

Week 15: Symbolism, #saf52weekchallenge

It’s easy to point the arrow in a different direction. But when it’s time to turn it inward, and confront yourself, will it be as simple to pull the string back?

Recently, I have been doing a lot of introspective work with my graduate classes, and it’s kind of weird to be so authentic with myself haha. It takes a lot to dig through the soil of your own truths, and choose to pull them out, versus burying them again.

But the experience doesn’t have to be scary and painful, and instead can be an enlightening experience. Who knows, maybe you’ll even hit the target called truth.

I know it took a while, but truly thankful to my model for this spontaneous photoshoot whilst we were at ppc24!

Idea no. 730: A Target Called Truth.

Week 18: Botanical, #saf52weekchallenge

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When you see this image, do you think of it being hopeful? Or do you view it in the opposite lens?

There’s deeper symbology, but I’m going to hold off until later to speak about those details! Hope you enjoy it regardless.

High School starts next week, and I’m trying to be as productive as possible with my last 3 days of summer haha.

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Self portrait from my newest series, Bloom/ine.

Week 17: Inspiration, #saf52weekchallenge

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In my first class for SCAD, I was heavily influenced by the works of @holeinthefabric and @ramonazordini .

I started an unreleased series known as tra[u]mas - where I explore the unseen damage that trauma can create through various physical damages and layers of paper. Each model wears the same clothes, but their damage is different; we're all human, but our experiences vary, and we can't assume based on looks what we've all gone through on a personal level.

It was such a learning experience for me, the guy who only shoots in nature and uses Photoshop, to create a series that incorporates studio photography and physical manipulation instead.

One day I would like to debut the entire series at a gallery, but for now, here's a sneak peek 😉

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Image 10 in the series, spray paint as damage.