I've got the makings of a real legend whenever I tell someone the story about how I was introduced to photography and why it is my chosen career. The simple run down is that my Grandfather was an intelligence officer for the air force who often was permitted to photograph and videotape operations. I can't say where he worked, what he knew, but I do know his relationship with me was more important than I'd ever realize.

When I was old enough, buying a camera from Walgreens for each major event was integral. I was naturally inclined to be an artist and documentarian even from the age of five. It wasn't until I was twelve that my Grandfather decided to take what was one of his last major trips across the country. This time he brought me and his companion/nurse and his two married friends joined us in their own big RV. 

This trip was filled with education on how to use my camera. I was exposed to some of the most beautiful national parks we have in this country and able to photograph it all with my handy little 5 megapixel digital camera at the time. 

From there I was hooked and begged my Father to help me buy my first big kid camera. A digital SLR is what it was called. I had a cropped sensor, meaning not the highest of quality, but it was enough to make me fall in love with photography even further. Because as an autistic artist, I was generally really shy or felt anxiety without something in my hands at social events. 

It was at that age that I started going to local hardcore shows and did band photography of all the musicians playing. I was able to go to these shows with little anxiety or fear thanks to my camera. And it started conversations with people I'd looked up to at the time. The people who inspired me to be great at what I did were largely musicians deeply committed to their craft. 

So naturally, I found myself professional by the time I was sixteen years old. I was running my own little business doing senior portraits and family portraits in exchange for donations to my trip to Kenya. I was invited by my best friends family to be the documentarian of this big month long trip overseas they planned to do as a family. They had a goal of using their nonprofit to generate funds to bring water to the town my best friends sister was working as a teacher in. 

My roots in photography

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

Kenya was something that really changed my perspective on life. If you've never left the country or been in spaces where you were the racial minority? You might not know what this is like yet. But I hope I can describe it well enough for you to want to branch out on your own to experience culture outside of the Western hemisphere.

We did not go with a mission to colonize land or minds, we went with the intention of raising money to fix the damaged well in the town and bring fresh water to the people of Mulot. Mulot was just three hours from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. 

The highlights of the month were photographing the first constitutional vote in Kisumu, a traditional Maasai wedding, a Mother elephant and her baby, and going on safari during the Great Migration of wildebeast. Each day felt like a fresh breath of air for the first time in ages. I felt alleviated of my Western worries and embraced the culture at hand.

At sixteen years old, I'd already checked off doing some really brilliant bucket list items. I'd grown up with National Geographic and Animal Planet at my core consumption media wise. It was truly completing to document the water resources in all these towns to help bring in enough donations to bring water to Mulot. We raised all the funding and went further on to teach the locals how to maintain the well. 

From there, going home was a hard feat. I was so enamored with the slower lifestyle and carb packed diet. It was a trip of a lifetime and I'll always be grateful for that chance to make history. Despite some post trip depression, I was able to lean into my place in Skills USA competitions. They were an organization that measured the best students the trade schools had to offer. As a part of the technology campus, I was able to enter my work and compete both state wide and nationally. 

Present Day

After Kenya, going viral, and being known around the world for my artwork it was hard to top those experiences. I wanted to have a quiet life, less risk at hand. And in wedding photography, I found myself a consistent means of living that made me joyful without a doubt. Witnessing people on their best day can go a couple of ways but generally people are filled with love and connection. 

I'm someone now who values those ideals. My business reflects who I am now. I'm someone who offers a sliding scale, I'm someone who works with the budgets of the non-profit organizations who reach out to me. I'm able to work with people across the board of diversity this way. And not sheltered to the classic cis, het, white washed version of the wedding industry. 

And this reflects me in my own respects. As a person of indigenous ancestry, I'm deeply aware of the colonization of this land and the history of oppression that built the country we claim wrongfully as our own today. I'm transgender, so when I'm operating in most spaces I'm using they/them pronouns until instructed otherwise or just asking folks up front about their pronouns. 

I'm also asexual, body affirming, neurodiverse, a survivor of SA, and someone whose worked for themselves their whole life to accommodate their disability. Getting to know me is trusting in my ability to do an excellent job no matter what labels I have on my name badge.