I started pursuing photography in 2006 (I was 12 years old), chasing my love of nature and animals with my dad’s camera - the first digital camera I had ever seen, it was literally just 2 megapixels. By 2010, with a slightly better camera of my own, I became inspired to broaden my photography horizons by attempting a year-long “365 project” of self portraits. Though challenging, I knew this would be a good way to push myself to learn fast and to grow my skills the art of photography - taking a self portrait every single day for a solid year. I had no particular style or “niche” yet, but it was a purely experimental year of following my curiosity and learning how to express my teenage self in front of the camera.

On the 365th day of this project (New Year’s Eve of 2010), I went out into the mountains to take my final self portrait. I had expected to not pursue self portraiture beyond this project… but while I set up my camera and sat on an icy rock in a frozen lake under the silent mountains, I felt a profound sense of peace and experienced an “aha” moment: Capturing that feeling of tranquility and connection with nature, I realized that I wasn’t done with self portraits yet after all. I had a feeling I was just getting started.