Since 2021, I've been messing around -- and taken seriously -- making mixes. From being tasked to burn CDs for my parents' holiday parties to overextending my heart to impress lovers in my teens and early adult hood, music has always hardened and softened my heart when it comes to sharing with others. These are some of the sounds I made this year that I enjoyed sharing with others, as well as keeping close to my heart. Listen & enjoy <3
For the past 6 months, I met up with and spent time with 5 Black Ramsey County residents to talk about their relationship to the outdoors, land, and safety in public space. I snapped some environmental portraits at Lake McCarren Park and recorded interviews with participants across ages, backgrounds, abilities, and experiences. As a transplant, first-gen immigrant and trans man, this project meant a lot to me in terms of expanding the defintions of home, belonging, stewardship -- all the facets one needs to cultivate long-lasting connection to land, the places we claim and call home.
Check out some of my favorite portraits from my pop-up sessions in this special pocket of East St. Paul, Minnesota.
