Phoems was my first body of visual artwork. Created in 2009, the series combines photographs I had taken with short texts I had written directly onto the images. The title is a combination of “photo” and “poem.”

At the time, the project felt simple and intuitive. I was interested in the way text could transform an image, creating a space somewhere between photography, poetry, and personal narrative. I even imagined creating an app that would allow anyone to make their own phoems.

Looking back, the series feels like a portrait of my early years in New York City. The phoems were created while I was living as a young dancer, model, and artist, drifting between neighborhoods, jobs, relationships, and creative worlds. They document a period that felt gritty, dramatic, messy, and full of possibility. Unlike much of my later work, I was not the central subject. The city was.

 

Early Photography