I was born in NYC, but my mom’s family comes from Michigan. Because my mom suffered severe postpartum depression, I ended up becoming a ward of the State of New York. I was a foster kid for my first few years. When my mom took me back, I thought she was adopting me from my real mother. Accordingly, as a kid, I used to say, “Question everything, because the person you’re calling ‘mom’ might not be your mom.” To this day, I still question and examine our histories, processes, and actions.
My mom was born in Detroit and we lived in Detroit for many years with her brother Nelson and sometimes with my grandparents. My uncle Nelson was the artist of my mom’s family. He was also one of the founders of the motorcycle club, the Detroit Highwaymen. I was raised with him for seven years, pushing him around in his wheelchair. As a kid I would go with him to junk yards. We’d gather parts so he could rebuild his 1956 chevy. I helped him replace the steering wheel with motorcycle handlebars so he didn’t have to use his legs to break. He would have LOVED Houston’s Art Car Parade.
My journey with photography began with a Pentax K1000 that my father gave me at the age of eighteen. He was a musici
