I process emotion through photography. These images were created in Elyria Canyon, in the Mt. Washington area of Los Angeles, during early morning hikes taken as a way to recenter myself.

As a child I would retreat to the woods near my house when I needed to escape.  I moved from Ohio to South Carolina with my mother when I was 8, leaving my father and all of my relatives behind.  I was miserable and alone, but surrounded by an entirely new landscape.  No matter how sad I was, the ancient trees covered in Spanish moss, the dense undergrowth and sandy soil filled with unfamiliar and very large bugs, coupled with the fear and excitement of seeing snakes, pulled me in.  I felt like a wild thing.  And through that wildness I gained strength. 

I found myself in a similar mindset after my marriage of 20 years came to an end. I had moved to my new neighborhood in Northeast LA, and was seeing my life and Los Angeles through a new lens.  In the canyon, nature embraced me again, and the light created a magical and tangible energy that enveloped me.  Los Angeles changed from a city of cars and work and concrete, to a place of sloping hills covered with a dense tapestry of plants that overtake and weave together.  The light was mysterious and timeless, coyotes and rabbits regularly crossed my path.  I felt wild and healthy again.  The photos are of the landscape, but also of the light and air, the space and the time. The photos were shot on film with the same 35mm Nikon camera I’ve used since high school. The images are presented unaltered, preserving the authenticity of the moment as it was experienced.

I found vintage frames in local thrift shops and paired them with my photos creating a dialogue between the two. The frames presenting a time and a style and the photos presenting a timeless rawness.