I chose to pick up a camera about seven years ago, and from then on, my love blossomed for the endless possibilities for creating messages without words.

This message is something similar to mine. I grew up without parents and without stability. As a child, it was heartbreaking for me. As an adult, I find ways to express that we need to bring awareness to children who are forced to grow up too quickly, for whatever reason. Not everyone has a picture-perfect situation with two stable parents. I’ve known orphans stealing on the street to survive. I’ve met children in a treatment facility that have both parents, but the parents don’t pay attention to their children because they’re more worried about where they’re going to get their next fix, or they’re not even around because they are in prison and their kids are left to fend for themselves.

This horrible situation needs to change now. The children need us to pay attention. That is why I chose to focus on children in dire situations, whether they are battling their own issues and don’t want to live with their parents, or their parents have forced them to learn survive before learning how to play.