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I started making this work the week before Covid lockdowns started. I was lonely and felt disconnected from a greater sense of community. I had hosted a group show about a year earlier, and of the handful of artists showing work, we discovered that about half of us had butterfly tattoos (I have one too.) I had the idea for the series then, because that moment made me feel like we were all in a little club together.
Most of these portraits were made from March 2020-May 2021. I went slow because of Covid restrictions and only made photos inside when it felt safe. It felt like looking forward to the next portrait kept me hopeful during the pandemic, and I hoped that making connections through the work would make me feel less alone. It did! Thank you to all people in these photos, I loved making them so much, and seeing them all together gives me that same feeling I got at the group show.
I intend to keep making these portraits and end up with a book one day, but in the spirit of purging all the work I’ve been hoarding the last few years, I’ve decided to put them all out there sans book. Of course, let me know if you have a butterfly tattoo and would like to be photographed :)
Note #2: I also learned to print in the color darkroom for the making of this series. Natalie Hail printed the photos of Rachel, Elijah and Hailey for me in the beginning, thank you, Natalie! And thank you Josh and Elon at Asuna’s Darkroom for teaching me how to print!!
Rachel, 2020
Olivia, 2021
Lahni, 2020
Cam, 2020
Charlotte, 2021
Jesse, 2021
Rai, 2021
Dove, 2021
Taylor, 2020
Alyana, 2020
Elijah, 2020
Astrid, 2020
Hailey, 2020
Dana, 2020
Julien, 2020
Olivia, 2021
Deep Pool, 2020
These are all absolutely beautiful, I was wondering if I could speak to you in regards to this! I have butterflies as well, for a unique reason