my grandma tama always had a camera in hand snapping photos of our family gatherings. we would roll our eyes when the flash would go off saying “we weren’t ready!!” and she’d reply, “i got you!” her photos captured the feeling, laughter and warmth of everyone together.

my grandpa robert photographed for the newspaper, taking photos from planes and always building his film camera collection. he was a quiet guy but we could chit-chat for hours about photography, i always felt that taking photos made him come alive.

photography has been important to my family for generations and i’m so grateful i get to use my grandpa’s past down film cameras in my work today. i love having their memory with me. they are a big part of my “why”