My current work is about preservation, storytelling, and connection. Through working with nearly 200-year-old photographic processes, my work evokes a sense of longevity and timelessness. I strive to not only preserve historical photographic and artistic processes but to use these techniques to preserve the stories of the modern world.
Invented in the 1850s, wet plate collodion is an entirely hands-on medium that allows me to connect to each step. From mixing my own chemistry to utilizing my portable darkroom to sensitize and develop each image, I am immersed in the process from start to finish.
Tintypes created by early explorers show us views of a world much different than we see today. Our planet is rapidly changing. Much like the wet plate photographers that came before me, I travel with my large format wooden cameras, my darkroom and chemistry, and a passion for capturing images of the world around me. Instead of a covered wagon, I travel in my 1979 Chevy camper van, creating one of a kind images that can be held in our hands and shared for hundreds of years.
An ongoing fascination and rolling concept throughout my work as been the use of multi image pieces. Throughout art history diptychs and triptychs were used as a means to tell stories, to express the larger meaning of the subjects being portrayed. I find that combining multiple images allows me to fully capture the expansive landscapes I photograph in ways I can’t begin to with solitary images.
In today’s fast moving times we are flooded with digital imagery every day that disappears in the blink of an eye. The concept of family heirlooms and keepsakes is an antiquated one. Traveling from coast to coast I engage with people from all walks of life, making photographs of families and individuals that are very personal and meaningful. Hearing stories about the family photos that are still kept and cared for after hundreds of years is a daily testament to the value of the work I am doing today.
I was born and raised in the Kansas City area. From the moment I stepped into a darkroom in high school, I knew analog photography would be my lifelong companion. I never wavered from my desire to have my hands in every step of the process. Learning to make tintypes was equal parts a fascination with the historical significance and a love for tangible handmade objects. For over a decade, I have crisscrossed the country, living out of whatever vehicle I owned at the time. Hundreds of rolls of film have turned into solitary successful images made over the span of several days, a lesson in letting go of control and trusting in my intuition and skills.
Exhibitions
2023 Solo Show, Terrain, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Kansas City, MO
2023 Group Show, Flat File, H&R Block Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2022 Solo Show, Leather/Light, Seedco Studios Gallery, Lawrence, KS
2022 Group Show, Body, Sleepyhouse Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2019 Group Show, RAICES Benefit Show, One Grand Gallery, Portland, OR
2019 Solo Show, Communal Living, Leedy-Voulkous Art Center, Kansas City, MO
2018 Group Show, Art in The Loop: KC Plays, The Box Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2018 Group Show, Flat File, H&R Block Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2017 Group Show, The Way You Look At Me, Gallery Protocol, Gainesville, FL
2016 Solo Show, Wanderbound, Night Blooms Darkroom and Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2015 Group Show, Bower Bird, Light Grey Lab, Minneapolis, MN
2015 Group Show, She/Folk, Idio Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Group Show, Flat File, H&R Block Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2014 Group Show, Open House, Vacant Farm, Kansas City, MO
2014 Solo Show, Babetown, White Rabbit Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2013 Duo Show, Works on Paper, Windhorse Gallery, Kansas City, MO
2010 Group Show, Yeah Right, Honeytree Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Art Residencies
The Creative Sanctuary, Arcata California 2019
New Orleans Photo Alliance, Spring 2024
Creative Resident at Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, Spring 2025
Publications
Stuffed Magazine, Volume 7, Issue One, Spring 2014, Pages 14-17
Wanderbound, Pitch Magazine, Spring 2016
Awakened Voices Magazine, Issue 7, Winter 2018, Pages 5-10
All Through a Lens: A Podcast About Film, Podcast Episode 30, November 2020
How to Tin Friends and Influence People, Pitch Magazine, Spring 2021
New Territory Magazine, Fall 2022
No Depression Magazine, Summer 2023 Issue
Tin Questions, Podcast Season 3 Episode 8, May 2024
The Hand Magazine, Issue 45, June 2024
NPR’s KCUR Arts & Life, Digital Article, June 2024
Awards
2018 Art in the Loop Grant, Kansas City, MO