My mom definitely nourished my artistic side. She always encouraged me to draw, paint and just make art. I knew I wanted to be a photographer when I was 15; it was before I had a camera. My dad has always thought it’s cool that I’m an artist and encourages me in his own weird ways.

I chose to stay in New Orleans the longest of all the places I’ve lived because I love the culture here; I fell in love with the city and never looked back. I became fascinated with post-hurricane Katrina life and what that looks like. The resilient people and their ability to not only rebuild but continually celebrate life by any means necessary are what ultimately enchanted me about New Orleans.

Being from the West Coast, I had a polarized idea of what the world was like, but once I moved to New Orleans, I quickly realized the South is different. I’d never lived in a city with such lacking infrastructure, but also a place where so much is needed. Louisiana is a historically racist state where people aren’t given the same opportunities; the people of New Orleans need and deserve nurturing from the government and they’re simply not getting it. Seeing this and experiencing it as a community member shocked me. Being from California, it’s been eye-opening to see and feel the very real struggle people face at times, a struggle between life and death, of people living below the poverty line. Living in New Orleans has made me realize how naive I was growing up and how much I took for granted.

The people I photograph inspire me because they’re the ones who came back to New Orleans with a passion to rebuild it and nothing else. The infrastructure wasn’t there, so it was the people who brought their city back to life, and that energy has driven my photography for the last decade.

Yes, and because I take these photos as a preservation effort, I’m very guarded about where the work is displayed. In other words, these images are not to be appropriated into something else; they are what they are (or appear to be).

I’ve been intentional about how I participate in the community and I’ve made friends with people who simply invited me into their worlds. I became a part of life here because these relationships are my foundation. I have an ethnographic approach to photographing people and I think it’s important – specifically for NOLA – that I’m documenting this really special time and place. I’m not sure it’ll ever be the same again and it’s important that this documentation exists.

I trust my intuition; when it feels right, I take a photo. Informed consent is very important to me and I never want to exploit people. So I always make sure to have a conversation with those who I photograph.

I started the project because of the need for it. I decided to do it after teaching at a charter school for a year, where I realized there was so much undiscovered and underutilized talent due to the educational system. With little creative or artistic curriculum aimed at these kids, I wanted to fast track them into being professional photographers so out-of-town people wouldn’t take those jobs. Many get assigned work in New Orleans but don’t actually live here, and I always thought, what better people to show it than the ones who do. Teaching photography to this group was super important because they are the best people to tell the story of New Orleans.

My advice for all future photographers is to seek your own truth and follow your intuition.