- I'm a photographer in Oneonta, New York.

I love photographing people.

I do a lot of portraiture.

I do a lot of fashion, documentary work.

A lot of the work that I do is based on like identities and the complexities within that.

But I'm also interested in making my work feel nostalgic and dreamlike and almost like my own world through my own lens as being a Black woman from upstate.

I got into photography when I was 14 years old.

Originally, I was really into doing like YouTube videos and making music videos and stuff like that, and I thought I was going to be a filmmaker.

But then I had found Flickr and then I started seeing amazing beautiful work and I was like, "Oh, I can make a still image and still tell a story."

And then it really just blossomed from there.

(uplifting music) I like to work with film a lot and I think that creates more of an intentionality for me.

I feel like a lot of the work that I try to make, I want the viewer to be connected in that way.

I started a project documenting sisters around the upstate area because I also had sisters myself.

I wanted to know like the differences between my relationship with mine and then other people's relationships with theirs.

I did a little interview asking them a little questions like, what's the funniest memory you have with your sister?

Or what inspires you about your sister?

That was like one of my starts to doing different projects, like personally, like in a documentary way.

From there, I had gotten the idea to photograph queer people in rural areas in smaller cities.

Well, I am a queer individual myself.

When I was growing up, I was a lot shyer and more scared and I feel like really putting myself out there with this project and getting to learn about so many different people from so many different walks of life, it has really been such an amazing experience.

I think my work is very emotional or at least I try to make it where you feel connected with the subject in the same way that I felt connected with the subject.

Like that's super important to me.

(uplifting music) I am a frequent contributor to the New York Times.

I've also shot for Vogue, British Vogue, some other little publications.

(laughs) It's been a fun time like getting these jobs and being from this area is definitely crazy.

When I had first started working with the New York Times, they had contacted me in my email and I think I was literally heading to class.

And I was like, "Oh, the New York Times wants to send me to Vermont to shoot Danny Roberts."

They were like, "We really love your style.

I saw your Instagram, I saw your website, I think you'd be great for this shoot."

And yeah, and then three days later, I went out there.

I had like an hour with him and I just shot a bunch of stuff.

You never know what you're gonna get sometimes.

And that was like one of the random moments and then I went on to shoot a bunch fun stuff for them.

If you want to pick up the camera and be a photographer, you should definitely just shoot everything and anyone and just have fun with it.

(classical music)