What you see on the screen is a small part of a larger collection of photos of Asheville, that I’ve been creating over the last year and a half.
This so-called project began as a way to get myself out of a creative rut. I began treating my camera as a sketchbook, taking it with me everywhere and capturing the minutia of daily life. Over the past year, I’ve felt anxious and directionless and like many directionless folk I’ve taken on the great tradition of aimless walks and drives.
In the course of my wandering, it’s become clear to me that I’m not the only one feeling this unease. The world feels particularly precarious at the moment. There has been an immense amount of change in just the past 5 years.
Much of the world is still processing the trauma of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the U.S. the pandemic exposed vast inequality as millions of low-paid workers had to put their bodies on the line to keep society running. During the pandemic markets reached record highs and those who benefited from power accumulated more wealth. In this time the cost of living increased by roughly 30% and while wages remained stagnant. 2020-2025 saw dramatic civil unrest over police brutality and more recently over large scale immigration sweeps by ICE in major American cities.
Asheville has been particularly hard hit by COVID and the current financial strain as much of the economy relies on tourism and hospitality. To add to this all of this the region experienced historic devastation during Hurricane Helene in 2024. There’s been a continued push to rebuild and return to normal when most haven’t had adequate time to process back to back crisis.
In my wanderings I saw Asheville as a microcosm of what’s happening on a greater scale in the rest of the country. However, what was different about Asheville was despite experiencing a horrific natural disaster many folks refused to stay down and have viewed this as opportunity to think about a better future.
My photography focuses on looking at the world critically, but also documenting community and moments of beauty and joy in a world that feels uncertain.