I photograph people and landscapes using a self-constructed camera in which I have replaced the lens with a fresnel, or magnifying sheet. The resulting images are impressions of refracted light, with the highlights rendered as spectrum and the darker areas as undefined lines and shapes. The saturation of the color and the soft, rich tones give them a painterly feel. I create tension by leaving visible certain photographic defects, such as dust and scratches, which call attention to the surface and create a barrier between the viewer and the subject.

For my subjects I choose people who I desire but do not know; people I believe to have characteristics I want to possess. The camera distorts their features and their eyes lose any identifying characteristics. I am not interested in who they really are, but in who I imagine them to be. I then place these portraits among the landscapes, revealing a world founded on my own perceptions and desires. These images are no less an accurate representation of the world than what we view with our eyes, the information is just filtered differently. For me, this work is about an intense longing to experience a reality that is not your own.