Introducing Me
I am currently from Mobile, Alabama but I have lived all over the southern United States begining with Memphis, Tennessee. I picked up a camera in October 2016, as a junior in college, to document my 3rd trip to India. I could talk all day about the sights, smells, frights, and thrills of visiting that beautiful country, but I digress. I already have an overwhelming love for people and their stories, but photographing that trip changed something for me. I could hold on to those moments and memories better now because I had them in my hands. I could re-feel emotions and marvel over and over again at the stunning views that were around me.
Fast forward and it's January 2017. I had been working with a band called [RAM:CORPS] and taking a few photos of their performances here and there. That partnership gave me the opportunity to travel all around the USA and countries around the world. Photography opened so many doors for me to experience life in a way that I had not before. But that is not the main reason why photography means so much to me. You see, in January 2017, something happened that wrecked my heart. A very close friend and mentor was killed tragically in a car accident. His name was Wade Ivey and I loved him way more than I can explain. He stepped up in my life Big Time and cared for me like I was one of his own children. When I found out he was gone I frantically searched my phone for any pictures I had of him...just to see his face...make sense of what had happened. You know what I found? Two pictures. Just two. In all the time I had know him we had only taken two pictures together of him and me. I was devastated, but at the same time I was so incredibly grateful to have those two.
That is why photography is important to me. It preserves memories and moments that only exist in our minds otherwise. It helps me to recall people and places that have radically impacted me. A photograph lets me preserve the legacy of someone who is close to my heart. The most important thing in the world to me is my family, the one I was born into and the ones I have chosen. Why wouldn't I want to remember moments with them?
Photography isn't just a camera...or a photo of a smiling face...it's precious memories frozen in time. That is why anything and everything that has Captured My Attention I try to take a photo of...and then I put away the camera and live in the moment. Moments Preserved & Life Lived.
