I am inspired by beauty. And I do not mean beauty as it’s defined by societal standards, but simply beauty through one’s imperfections. I value and appreciate unconventionality in its purest form.

So, whenever I shoot anyone, I stress nothing more than for them to simply be themselves. As photographers, one of our primary roles is to direct our models, but I love to give them the power to simply exist. That is what I believe makes a powerful image — when nothing is forced.

With each picture I have chosen, the only power I withheld was the manipulation of color. I believe that each chosen setting held a similar scheme that allowed everything to come together, full circle.

In the first image, titled “Glory to Heaven,” we are presented with a model in white, styled by LB Styles, in a vacant lot. Despite the wasted atmosphere, my model remains the focal point of the image, and I believe that is achieved through the upward angled shot that I was able to capture from a crouched position. The beauty of this image is the fact that it is almost as if she stands above the rubble, like a chaotic, punk angel escaping a vacant wasteland.

The second image is from one of my favorite projects titled “Wonderland,” which was centered around my own adaptation of the iconic 2010 film “Alice in Wonderland.” In this image, I capture the queen, represented through an androgynous model who wears a crown of thorns adorned in red roses. What
makes this image exceptionally special is the fact that the model made use of the red tree as
an attempt to exemplify the idea of emergence. For that reason, the photo itself was titled, “The
Red Queen Emerges,” which I believe brought depth and beauty to the image as a whole.

Finally, we have one of my first photographs featuring a girl in blue. Out of the three, this image is the most authentic since it was not centered around an organized shoot. What I love the most about this photo is the use of blue throughout, from the model’s clothing to the building behind her. This image is special because it required so little set-up to be captured. I told her to be herself and do whatever she believed felt right. Through that, I was able to capture something amazing.