Kickstarter

I photograph scars and caresses on the human body. These marks, sometimes invisible, are the historic markers of human life; they trigger narrative, memory and the intimate details of an individual's emotional and cultural legacy. I compile these photographs, together with the accounts they elicit, to trace a tiny part of our collective human story.

I intend to start in a month long artist residency in Spain and to eventually make my way north towards the Arctic Circle. I am asking for funds for film, film development and of course for food and travel. This project will culminate in a gallery exhibition and a published book.

The experience of human life is a dappled and variegated thing. Our world is an amalgamation of histories, memories and the perennial succession of overlapping narratives. From the scars we carry to the memory of a loved one's embrace, we come dressed in our experiences.

I photograph people within their environment. I ask about physical recollection: where has the world touched you? Where has it left a profound memory?

In the case of Kensington, Philadelphia, for example, where the unemployment rate hovers at 50%, scars from street fights, jail, and preventable illnesses prevail. Whereas with college students, I collect tales of mischief, travel and first love.

I also photograph the landscapes near where people live and work -- the in-between places -- as well as the detritus left behind there. This overlooked topography holds a luminous power all its own; it gives testament to transience and anonymity, a stark contrast to the very personal portraits I take of its inhabitants.

To me a scar is a map; a placeholder for the untellable. This is my attempt to map the strata of living history.

Thank you for listening to my story and I hope you will find this undertaking compelling enough to support.

Please donate today!

(Many thanks to Aaron Birk, Peter Alele and Ellen Reynolds for helping me get this campaign together...)