Containing Intimacy

It can be a struggle to find intimacy in this world that we have created, yet it never stops us from wanting and seeking it out.

We can experience intimacy in solitude if we are open to exploring our deepest selves, but often it is something we wish to share with others. I have experienced intimacy in the form of revealing deep, painful secrets over a glass of wine, as well as during a short walk holding hands with someone I longed to touch.

In 2021 I realized I had spent the majority of my life hiding from intimacy, outside of those rare occurrences that felt like brief glimpses of something wholly unattainable. I found it much easier to be alone with my craving for connection than to actually go into the world and hope that someone would return my gaze. As with all things that feel too heavy or difficult to work out on my own, I decided the best way to move through this stuckness was to develop an artistic process and practice that would allow me to hold an intimate container and invite others to experience it with me.

I chose the open setting of the natural environment to facilitate these scenes so that neither I nor my subject could hide, where we could experiment with standing alone surrounded by the elements, rather than having the chance to hide behind the percieved safety of our human made surroundings.

The act of uncensored nudity allows a true sense of vulnerablity to be witnessed. We stand together in discomfort and find empowerment as we move through this process. These moments are short lived but they feel as if they last a lifetime.

While sharing this intentionally created space, I have had the experience of digging through any and all superficial layers of myself and another and capturing the alchemy of true seeing/being seen that I had been craving my entire life. This work allows me to see others in their innate majesty and at the same time, allows me to assuage my own desire of being seen as I truly wish to be seen; as an artist, a human, and a safe space for one to let go and embrace the power of human intimacy.

All portraits taken on 120 mm film.