My Story
I was born in Canada and grew up living in the English countryside. My family is full of travelers, so my childhood was spent meeting folks with many experiences across Europe and North America. England will always hold a special place in my soul, but I also particularly love the small towns in France, the canals in Denmark, the big cities in Germany, and the deserts in Western America.
From spaces of communal wellness to soil spoiled with blood...
I certainly couldn't discern where I fit into it all. I couldn't process the beauty & terror of what I saw without stepping back and looking through a lens.
I've had a camera with me since I first picked up my Canon Powershot A590 IS in 2010.
A couple of years after my family moved back to Ontario, I got a camera for Christmas. I took a photo of pretty much everything I saw for years. Week after week, I'd be tucked away in my room sorting through my memory card. Experimentation was my life force! It felt like I was becoming myself with every click of the shutter.
Photography became a way for me to connect with my peers on a fun yet deeply serious level. I'd never seen people like me openly celebrated—definitely not in mainstream media!—and I'd personally been to many places where queerness and "witchcraft" were brutally punished. I wanted to create spaces where the people around me felt safe enough to be seen. Mostly because I personally didn't.
I completed my 4-year BA from Western University in 2018.
While I spent a couple of years studying Comparative Literature, I ultimately majored in Media, Information and Technoculture (MIT) and minored in Creative Writing.
MIT is an immersive, creative and theory-based program studying how media uses technology to create & share information that influences & establishes culture. I specialized in authentic identity representation, so I spent a lot of my time studying depictions of gender, race and sexuality in Western media.
As a non-binary witch with my specialized background, I know how important it is to genuinely see yourself. To feel seen by the people around you. And I also know that there's nothing easy about letting people in.
Photo of me by Chelsea Brimstin Photography.
Cover & footer photos: images of me by Claire Dam.
