What Leaves, What Remains
I think of What Leaves, What Remains as a homage to classic stories of growing up, self-discovery, and running away. I centered my lens not only on the individual but the places around them, both when they are present and absent.
I wandered away from a purely linear storyline because, like trying to remember our own past experiences, our memories ebb and flow between the vivid and the fragmented. I find that, in recalling my own past, the strongest imagery can sometimes be the most commonplace scenes that are simply recontextualized in the moment.
Different photographic techniques, mediums, and genres also aid in encapsulating memory and one’s own thoughts. The series includes landscape photography, architectural photography, surveillance, postcards, intimate Polaroids, still lives, and even forensic photography. By keeping myself open to all these possible strategies, I find it builds out the world and ideas I want to showcase.
We all had to grow up and find ourselves. To some, being themselves may have felt like an insurmountable achievement. Even if our experiences of becoming an adult differ from one another, art and storytelling form a language to understand the lives of others.