Location: Brooklyn, New York.

Duration: Three years.

Education: I have a degree in culinary arts and spent more than a decade as a chef, but have no formal photography education. I’m a self-taught photographer.

Cultural influences: My perspective is shaped largely by my roots in the American South—there’s a sense of nostalgia for a time that I never actually knew. 

Artistic influences: Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Frank W. Ockenfels III, Richard Learoyd, Edward Curtis.

First big break: Licensing an image for use in a national ad campaign for JCPenney.

Technique: I shoot both digital and analog, specifically wet-plate collodion. My technique is simple and direct. 

Philosophy: Find beauty through simplicity.