Photo Story: The Waste Land

The Waste Land explores the impermanence of childhood and the disillusionment of adolescence through portraiture of a single subject. The photographs capture the tension of this life stage and create a complex psychological landscape that unfolds in narrative form. Each image builds on and responds to the last, tracing a shift between nostalgia and uncertainty, innocence and self awareness, preservation and transformation.

The series examines adolescence as a period of thresholds, focusing on the liminal spaces between them as major points of inquiry. Childhood appears not simply as something left behind, but as something that continues to linger, distort and resurface throughout the process of growing up. The photographs question what is lost in this process, what remains and whether transitional periods have explicit beginnings and endings.

The series is part of an ongoing project that began in early 2025, where I intend to photograph my younger sibling incrementally throughout their adolescence. By returning to the same subject over extended periods of time this process is simultaneously a documentation of change and an evolving collaboration between photographer and subject. The accumulation of these individual moments captured over time begin to tell a larger story.

Working with a Mamiya C33 and Nikon FE I utilize both 35mm and 120 film in this series. I experiment with shadow, reflection and both natural and artificial lighting to influence mood and storytelling. The photographs are a combination of scanned gelatin silver prints or scanned archival pigment prints created from digitally restored negatives.

endings

An inquiry into childhood nostalgia. This photograph utilizes composition and light to evoke retrospection. A shadow looms in the background. Archival pigment print from a digitized 120 format. negative, 2026.

nocturne

An exploration of the night. This portrait utilizes flash photography to capture the night as a liminal phase; a period where all daytime boundaries dissolve. Gelatin silver print, 2025.

penumbra

A study of foreboding. The mid-afternoon lighting and shadow blooming in the top left corner pose an interesting juxtaposition between the beautiful and the ominous. The shadow has now partially consumed the form. Archival pigment print from a digitized 120 format. negative, 2026.

lessons

An inquiry into childhood dogma. This Portrait depicts adolescence as a crossroads: the edge of faith. Gelatin silver print, 2025.

velveteen rabbit

A commentary on perfectionism, and the human quest for authenticity. This demonstrative portrait playfully explores this through tension between posed and candid expression. Gelatin silver print, 2025.

leftovers

This portrait explores what remains after an event, realization or transition. The photograph questions whether remains are preserved or degraded. Gelatin silver print, 2025.

threshold

This photograph explores transitional moments, utilizing the metaphor of natural liminal spaces. Gelatin silver print, 2026.

cocoon

This photograph represents the final stages of metamorphosis. Photographed in a cornfield, the husk embraces the form. Archival pigment print from a digitized 120 format. negative, 2026.

dichotomy

An inquiry into polarity. This diptyque uses contrasting lighting and posing to convey duality. Archival pigment print from a digitized 120 format. negative, 2026.

beginnings

This photograph utilizes composition and leading lines to capture longing. The sun setting on the western horizon symbolizes both a resolution and perpetual evolution in the narrative. Gelatin silver print, 2026.