“At the beginning of this project, I knew. I wanted to tell a story- I just wasn’t sure which story I wanted to tell. My main focus, from the very start, was girls- to bring to light their absolute beauty and grace. I chose a handful of girlfriends to closely study, learn about, and photograph. During this process, I noticed a common factor amongst all of them- at one point in their lives, they lost themselves to something or someone. This project suddenly evolved into something so much more than capturing pleasing-to-the-eye images- it became a healing process; not only for the ladies I was photographing, but also for myself…

A progression, a metamorphosis. A portrait of a girl, who at the birth of this story has realized the epitome of who she is as a person has been lost to people and things of the past. A girl who has been used and hurt and taken for granted. A girl, upon realizing this, who digs away all the pain and wreckage of what has happened to uncover the flickering life spark of who she once was. By flaming it back to life, this girl is reborn into something even more elegant, even more breathtaking… A beacon of hope for all the other girls who have lost bits of themselves along the way of life- A testament that what is lost can be brought back, what is tainted can be cleansed, and what is stolen can be reclaimed.”

Artist statement excerpt.