Finaliste

When we walk around New York City its so easy to see its sheer vastness: the architecture, the infrastructure, the commerce, the sensory onslaught and the incessant supply of humanity. That staggering, impenetrable vastness is what makes this city both endlessly fascinating and incredibly infuriating; and it’s easy to get wrapped up in the blunt, visceral emotion that the hugeness of the city evokes in us. It’s easy to forget that the dense forest is, in reality, a collection of trees—all of them breathing, growing, living, and dying, one beside the other beside the other. Every one of us has a story, a life, and all the joys, hardships, pain and happiness that go along with that life.

I am a lifelong New Yorker. This city is my home, and I love it, and its people, very deeply. So, with my camera, I strive to pay attention to the individuals that breathe, grow, and live here. Through my photography, I want to cast their jetsam in beauty, their silhouettes in reverence, their anonymity in recognition, their hustle in stillness. Bringing awareness to the city’s small and elegant moments is, for me, an act of love, devotion, and hopefully compassion.—both to my home, and to the strangers with whom I live. For while it is so easy to get caught up in life’s drama and difficulties, it is important to remember that we are all in this together.