My vision

As I progress through my career, I find I am more and more drawn to exploring where photography intersects with suffering, faith and beauty. I believe that beauty is important in the world as it is a reflection of our Creator, and is part of His character. My faith definitely impacts my work and I love contemplating concepts and ideas through the lens of my camera. I have a heart for those who are suffering and love photographing projects that allow me to be a voice for those who are suffering in some way.

Suffering and brokenness are common themes in my work. This comes from my own life experiences and how I have been impacted by walking through suffering and brokenness, and seeing the beauty that has come about in my own life as a result of these hard journeys. My work is also deeply influenced by the suffering I have witnessed around me in the places we have lived.

Advocate for the Oppressed through what you wear...

Do you want to make a difference? Do you wish you had a way to speak out about injustice, to support the oppressed, to be a voice for the voiceless? Well, now you can with my new "Darkness Hope Freedom" t-shirt! This shirt came about through a suggestion by a Uyghur woman that I make t-shirts using my photographs. I loved the idea, as I have many photographs of Uyghurs from our time in their homeland a number of years ago.

And so the project began...a partnership between me and this Uyghur woman, who is a textile and fashion designer in Istanbul, Turkiye. With her textile expertise and my photography and art design background, we created these t-shirts.

The shirts are handmade - sewn by an Afghan seamstress. The shirt uses a photograph that I took of a Uyghur woman in 2013 in the Uyghur homeland. I then transferred the image onto a Gelli Plate and using paint and stencils, created the design you see on the t-shirt. My Uyghur friend came up with the words "Darkness Hope Freedom". These words speak to the suffering the Uyghurs are experiencing to this day, the hope that they hold on to, and their desire for freedom...for their family members trapped in re-education camps, prisons, labour camps, or simply unable to communicate with loved ones because the government in their homeland has blocked communication between Uyghurs and anyone outside the country. They want to be free to live their lives, with their loved ones, to practice their customs and religion and celebrate their culture, which are all basic human rights.

This project is by women, for women. There are many Uyghur women here in Istanbul whose husbands were called back to their homeland in 2016 or 2017 and once they arrived, they were taken and put into re-education camps. Most of the women have never heard from their husbands again. They were left alone, many with children, trying to figure out how to do life in a foreign country, how to survive and feed themselves and their children, often with little business experience or opportunity.

Our hope is that these t-shirts help us, and you, speak out about the injustice that is happening to these Uyghur women, and the Uyghur people as a whole, to show our love and support for them, and also for all oppressed peoples around the world.

*A portion of the profits from these t-shirts will go towards education and business training for Uyghur women in Istanbul who have been separated from their husbands, many since 2016, due to the oppression and detainment of their husbands in their homeland.

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Books

A lot of the work I create ends up in books, as I have a deep love for books! I love that a book allows for a collection of images that tell a larger story than just one or two images can, and it is a lasting form that leaves a legacy. You can see the books I have created so far on my "Books and Prints" page. Click the button below to check them out. (Including a new children's book I wrote, called Pancakes & Pickles! Read more about my writing on the new Deep Soul Writing page!)

And now, I am moving into a season of advocacy for the Uyghur people. I have just created a new T-shirt design which you can see above. I am very excited about this project! I will be continuing to work on various projects integrating photography, writing and other art mediums as I pursue other advocacy/art projects in this season.