“Nothing is ever the same as they said it was.”

Self Assigned.
We had an exhibit up in Park City a few weeks ago. Above is half a quote from Diane Arbus and we had 48 hours to come up with four photos to match it. We means Trent Nelson, Mike Terry, Erik Daenitz, Grayson West, Mike Friberg, Tyler Cobb and I.
The assignment was a refreshing departure from what I usually shoot and sort of pushed me to think different I guess. Maybe it just happened because I didn't have any other, better ideas. Anyway. This is what I came up with and because the photos look a little less obvious than what is usually posted on this blog, there's an explanation below each photo and in the end if you're interested.

life, chaos, days fly by, my grandmothers' jewelry and dress and wisdom, it'll be over before we know it
self image, moving around and feeling my body, being happy and content but also obsessing over it
love, life with micha, our apartment, hopes that we'll stay together and fear that we won't
creativity, photography, letting the mind flow and stressing that it's not flowing well enough and that it's really only as creative as a rock and before long people will notice

The things I love most in life are also what I'm most concerned about.
From the outside they may seem exclusively positive, enviable even. I think as a society we do that. What we say about people is mostly what we can tell about them based on their outward appearance: they have money, a phd, a good job, are well-read, creative, a happy family, have tons of friends, and so on.

But I realize more and more that what I'm most attached to I am also incredibly tormented about, which is really hard at times. Photography is an example many of us can relate to. I don't know how many times I've been torn up and feeling terrible about my photos, doubtful, fake, and just ready to run away from it all. Anyway. I love it too. So that's why I stick with it.
The photos are trying to represent that chaos. They are collages from all the things I associate with a topic, stuck on top on each other in photoshop, voila.