as far back as i can remember issues of poverty have touched my life. my parents divorced when i was seven years old, after which i was raised by a single mother. due to financial constraints we moved every year or so. while inconvenient, this afforded me the unique opportunity to experience varying versions of "reality" in various neighborhoods of southern california. and so from an early age i witnessed the disparate distribution of resources that correlates with class and ethnicity in the places i lived. this would later inform a critical perspective of global social issues.

i inherited my great grandfather's honeywell pentax thirty-five millimeter camera when i was seventeen years old. with this camera, i began to document the world around me. i have since embraced the advantages of digital photography, though i still prefer the intimacy of film, photo paper, and chemicals in the quiet of a dim darkroom.

i was privileged with the opportunity to attend mills college in oakland, california, pursuing an undergraduate degree in political, legal, and economic analysis, focusing on the developing world. during this time i spent time in ghana, méxico, and guatemala. experiences in these three countries profoundly shaped my understanding of global inequities in the world today, and demonstrated to me the ways in which poverty disproportionately affects women. i am currently studying human rights at columbia university in new york city. as the world edges increasingly toward urbanization, so does my interest in issues faced by those living in urban centers. gaining an understanding of the ineluctible linkages between the global north and south has shifted my critical lens to include issues such as food security, water rights, sustainable development, and empowerment of women.

my goal is to bring awareness to these very real social issues while also expressing the beauty and hope that tenaciously persist in this increasingly globalized world.