In late 2021, my father told me about a memory of his stemming from around 2011. It was a memory of the two of us driving over the “mile-long bridge,” which stretches over the Saylorville Lake near one of the cities I grew up in called Polk City, Iowa. My father was telling me how I had noticed the sunset cascading towards us upon the water, and how I picked up my phone and photographed it. I suppose he was getting at his belief that I have an eye for a good photo.

Nearly a decade after this memory, after I (embarrassingly) bought an old film camera off eBay in attempt to connect more with a girl I was “seeing” (it only lasted one date), I started experimenting with photography. First, I dabbled in street photography, exploring downtown Kansas City and the towns around it, documenting the buildings, objects, and playing around with compositions that struck me as interesting. I then started taking street portraits after discovering the work of the world’s best including Henry Cartier-Bresson, William Klein, Vivian Maier, Joel Meyerowitz, and Frederik Trovatten. I loved every second of it. After dipping my toes into street photography, I then took part in the special moments of friends, family, and other relationships. This is where photography then took on a whole new meaning for me. Now, my little hobby has expanded to utilizing my marketing degree and professional experience to offer marketing consultation, graphic design, and copywriting services, and I don’t plan to stop any time soon.