Medical Marijuana Farmer's Market for The Seattle Weekly

Pine Ridge Reservation on TIME.com

I recently had the great pleasure of working with Mark Rykoff, a photo editor at TIME on editing a selection of images from my Pine Ridge project. The Pine Ridge Reservation has always had a pull for me in many ways even before I picked up a camera. It's great to see this project find a new home. Please check out the gallery at the following link.
View TIME.com Gallery Here>>>

Sustain Project - Kurtwood Farms

I have been thinking a lot about where my resources come from. Of course, you can go to Safeway and pick up a block of cheese or a steak without seeing the cow, turn on the light without any regard to where this power is coming from, or drive to work without seeing the oil rigs working to get you there. I wanted to start out by looking at what small farmers are doing around Seattle to create more of a "Farm to Table" experience. Yesterday I rode my bike onto the Vashon Island Ferry and headed over to Kurtwood Farms. Firstly, something happens to you when you step onto a ferry. A sense of relaxation takes over, especially when you are on foot or on a bike. The ride to Kurtwood Farms is a 6 mile trek from the ferry with views of the Olympics and the occasional glimpse of Mt. Rainier.

When I got to the farm I was warmly greeted by Kurt Timmermeister and given a quick tour of the pasture, creamery, house, and barn, before he started tending to his cheeses. Kurt, who has dabbled in many activities on his farm, while trying to figure out which one will be most successful, seems to have settled on making cheese with the milk from his Jersey Cows. Kurt sells the cheese to local vendors throughout the Seattle area, while working to perfect his creations. In thinking about this project I wanted to give it a certain feel of timelessness, which is why I chose to shoot the majority of the images in medium format film with my Hasselblad. Shooting in this format is both challenging for me as well as very exciting. I hope to continue working with Kurt and other local farmers in the future as the weather warms up in the coming months. If you haven't already, please check out Kurt's new book Growing a Farmer.

The Beginnings of a New Essay

I have been contemplating an essay dealing with the loss that suicide brings to family and friends. I started doing research months ago, not really knowing where to start. The project is still in very early research phases, but I decided to take a walk along the Aurora Bridge last week and see what I saw. This bridge is the second most deadly suicide bridge in the United States.

Pine Ridge Hasselblad Portraits

The Beauty of Film

I had a blast scanning some of the images I shot while driving across the country for the holidays. Obviously while I was driving it was difficult to take pictures, but these are a few that I especially enjoyed.

From the Archive - Pine Ridge

I first went to Pine Ridge over six years ago and will never stop going back. The people there are some of the most welcoming people with some of the most heartbreaking stories I have ever heard. Last year I was fortunate enough to spend several days on the reservation for The New York Times. It was my fourth trip to the reservation and the relationships that were cultivated there have developed into friendships. This image came about after a long day of walking around the reservation with my friends Rich and his younger brother. The two went back to their house to meet friends and suddenly their friend Leston Moran shows me his scars. He tried to kill himself when he was in prison because he couldn't attend his grandmother's funeral services. The image was easy to take, but reminds me of the importance of listening and being open to situations of all types when working closely with people on a long term project. I look forward to going back in a couple of months and continue to build friendships and tell the stories of the Lakota. Thanks to everyone who has let me into their lives out on the reservation.