“The best part of teaching in public affairs is that, even if my research is ignored, I can make a difference by helping to educate the people who will be making decisions down the road. That’s both an extraordinary opportunity and a sobering responsibility, because what I say in the classroom might matter more than anything I ever write.”

In August 2014 I had the opportunity to travel with Jane Baldwin to Ethiopia’s Omo River Valley and Kenya’s Lake Turkana to work as Jane’s photography assistant.  My role was to assist and support Jane with her ten year project Kara Women Speak.  This gave me the opportunity to travel by boat to visit the indigenous communities that live along the Omo River and depend on the Omo River and Lake Turkana watershed. 

Spring has begun to settle in the city, and to us creative types that means the outside world has once again become a bearable workspace! I photographed the charming Caitlin Hoey up and down stairwells, elevators, bridges and buildings with a mask, a scorpion lollipop and sparklers. From the Boston Public Library through Back Bay up to Beacon Hill, we worked until the sunset across the Charles River and dusk fell across the city.  

These are my six most inspiring art books I’ve read in the past year.

The lovely Molly O’Reilly and I spent an evening together making photographs and sharing stories. When hoping to create images that reveal private thoughts and feelings I often set the tone for honesty through some well chosen music and open conversation.  

Over the past few months I’ve been experimenting with videography and really enjoying the process. I decided to dedicate a little time to developing this skill while I was in Culebra, PR and record some of my experience. 

Highlights from 2014

Photographing Sky is always a treat. The combination of our friendship and Sky’s transparent and camera-comfortable lifestyle means that we can both relax and make interesting, creative images. In this session with Sky, I wanted to capture a day in his life – traveling on the T, walking around Boston, spending time with his cat, shaving, the rush of creativity and sunset practice sessions. 

Two of my favorite photographers, Nan Goldin and Kelli Connell, focus on intimacy in their work. The more I study their images, the more I feel their work touches on the elusive quality that surrounds friendship and love. This summer I wanted to create a photograph for Anisocoria that touched on my own experience with intimacy.

It was such a pleasure to photograph Carolyn & Max on Whiteface Mountain and in Lake Placid, NY. Carolyn & Max are both fellow Skidmore Alumni and I studied photography with Carolyn, so we had a lot of fun on this shoot. Check out some of Carolyn’s photography here.