weBelong

I see portraiture as a therapeutic tool for self-reflection and an agent of social change, inviting us to look beyond the surface, challenging us to sit in discomfort, and teaching us to appreciate the complex and difficult beauty inherent in our shared humanity.

My work focuses on community-centered photography projects designed to create social impact. My intention is to connect the lived experiences of marginalized individuals, who exist at the intersection of gender and race, to systems of oppression. My aim is to foster empathy and understanding in both the participants and audience. Through a therapeutic portrait process and first-person narrative, participants are given a space to feel worthy of being seen and an opportunity for growth. The audience is invited to bear witness to the participants' vulnerable stories, alongside prompts to facilitate self-reflection, to encourage their understanding of our shared humanity. For both the participants and audience, my hope is that this work can bring to light our unconscious beliefs about who matters and whose story should be heard, thereby challenging harmful narratives that prevent us from seeing ourselves and each other as whole human beings.