The only way to truly tell what kind of life we’ve led is through what remains of it on our skin. It is both our protection and connection to the world. Scars become evidence of experience just as wrinkles and stretch marks depict the effects of time. Our complexion can reflect emotional turmoil or glow with healthy vitality.
What most interests me about skin is that, when photographed in detail, it becomes abstract and is transformed into something entirely different. Disturbing subject matter can be rendered beautiful and an imperfection can become something other than a flaw. In this, both personal history and time become tangible. As unsightly as scars can be, they are evidence of our lives, our frailty, and our mortality.
I shoot on a large format camera with Polaroid positive/negative film to capture detail and texture. It is a temperamental medium and unpredictably organic in nature. Like our skin it changes with both time and environment. The photographs are created as black and white negatives that I then print full-frame in color. In this way I avoid traditional documentation of reality and create instead a world somewhere between beauty and decay.