Epic Personas

This body of work is comprised of a series of portraits of my immediate and extended family, including my parents, grandmother, and close friends. I use my memories of each person as a guide for my photographs. I begin by interviewing and collaborating with the subject to create the environment, wardrobe and stance that best portrays each person. While the individual staging is different for each subject, I use a set formula to produce each image. My goal for this work is to depict these persons in a manner that creates a larger-than-life character by highlighting what I know and love about each person. I also aspire to portray the person in a slightly idiosyncratic or comical light, so as to acknowledge and challenge their own mortality. By using a specific compositional formula, I seek to present the individual as an emphasized version of themselves while striving to capture the viewer’s attention and curiosity, as well as challenge their sense of reality.