Family is an ongoing series of color and black-and-white portraits made with an 8×10-inch view camera. The work explores both the cognitive process of relational seeing and the psychological experience of intimacy that comes from seeing and being seen with care and attention. Working in tandem, these formal and interpersonal inquiries into relationality inform my portraiture. I have found that making portraits in a slow, contemplative way has the power to initiate a perceptual dialogue between myself and my subjects. Family investigates the sense of belonging that arises from this conversation and the healing potential of being mutually regarded with reverence and empathy.

After two decades of photographing the landscape, I was inspired to begin the series in 2016 while studying observational drawing and painting. These studies remain ongoing today and continue to inform my photographic practice. As I began working with models in the fine arts studios, I learned to see with heightened empathetic attention—to perceive the model not as an isolated figure but as a human being who was part of a relational field that included the environment and myself. I then adapted this empathetic gaze and the elements of art and principles of design to make photographic portraiture. As I did, Family evolved.

Initially a photographic index of people important to me—my then-partner, close friends and neighbors, the series developed. The deliberate pace and attentiveness required by the large-format process charged the photographic encounter. The vulnerability required from both my sitters and myself deepened our connection in ways that were palpable in the moment and revealed more fully in time.

This transformative process of seeing and being seen with an empathetic gaze arises from a basic biological need. It fosters trust, compassion, and mutual respect—qualities that can heal and strengthen relationships among individuals and within families, communities and societies. What began as an index of people in my life has transformed into a family born of empathy.