Before I knew or understood anything about neurodivergent conditions such as ADHD and Autism, I just described myself as chaotic. Last year, an acquaintance asked me if I had ever been screened for ADHD and she sent me a test. Chaos Brain is my attempt to make photos that feel more authentic to how I see and experience the world, a world that for me has always been overstimulating, vibrantly colored, chaotic, hyperfocused, multi-focused, out of focus, and contradictory. My world is a spectrum, not a binary.
*Shoegaze Equinox*
This image isn’t the first I made using the double exposure technique, but for me this is the one that solidified the idea in my head. The pretty spring flowers signify growth and new potential but are also evolved to distract and delight the eye and nose. The “shoegaze” is what you do when you are feeling down or looking inward or stuck on the past. The juxtaposition of the two can be overwhelming and chaotic.
*Homeward Bound*
Reluctantly waiting at a terminal in LAX to fly back east after an exhilarating week of photography, criticism, camaraderie, and impulsive adventuring.
*Project Los Angeles*
The absolutely indispensable Syed Yaqeen. He, alongside Allison Zaucha (Author of “Dreams That Could Be”), Jamie Rose, and Ibarionex Perello served as speakers/coaches during Momenta Workshops: Project Los Angeles 2022
*Bottomland Equinox*
Congaree National Park on the cusp of Autumn. I ventured into the ancient flood plain a bit too early to find the fall color.
*City of Angels*
Blue and yellow make green between the black and white.
*Fresh Haircut*
Sometimes you have to dress for the job you want. Good hygiene can help to inspire a positive sense of self in a chaotic world. And why not feel twice as good?
*High Sierra Pilgrimage*
On impulse, I fled the City of Angels to find the highest point in the land. I drove till I couldn’t drive anymore and continued on foot till I could climb no further. Whitney loomed over me like everything else in life. It was so close I felt I could almost touch it, but it always stayed just out of reach. I became overwhelmed as I gasped for oxygen and struggled for grip across the icy terrain. Like icarus, I fell back to earth.
*In Bloom*
“My heart is heavy this morning, but the dogwood and the azalea are doing their best to lift us up. I sent this to you hoping it might brighten your day a little. I don’t know if you saw it. I don’t know what the right thing to do is anymore. I don’t think I ever did.”
-Instagram caption from a March 25, 2022 post
*The Call of the Toddler Beast*
Young Owen explores what remains of the old Barnette family farm in Northern Greenville County.
*Funkmaster Suburbs*
Patrick Funk shows off this years sunflower crop before besting the gang at championship disorganized ping pong.
*Pong*
Albert Knuckly taunts Jared Pyritz during a round of championship disorganized ping pong.
*Lily Fever*
Near Great Falls, SC, Scott Cooke hunts for the rare wild Spider Lilies that were once prolific across the rocky shoals of the Carolinas between the piedmont and coastal plain.
*Bottomland Color*
The spring monsoons bring bursts of yellow and green across the rich bottomlands of Congaree National Park near Columbia, SC.
*Portrait of an Artist*
Multi-instrumentalist and composer, Brett Nash of Charleston, SC spotted in the Columbia Museum of Art before a performance in Boyd Plaza.
*A Dawn Rose*
Sometimes the story is simply that beauty exists in the world.
*Graveyard Fields*
I prayed at the temple of the holy fern and gave thanks for the annual rhododendron bloom. God thundered back (literal thunderstorms moving across the Great Balsam Range) saying “this is the way”.
*Chaos Mode*
Jared Pyritz and Patrick Funk battle for the title.
*Bowie*
Monochrome cat in a Kodachrome world.
*The Ascension of Zach*
Zach Morrison performs with the band Say Brother for their first show since the onset of COVID-19.
*Toddler Beast Beach Vacation Memory Machine*
A newly mobile Owen enjoys a trip to Kiawah Island.
*Adventure Buddies*
The boys and I explore the sights and sounds of Grassy Ridge Bald in the Roan Highlands along the NC/TN border.
*Hibiscus syriacus*
Among other things, the blooms are known to repel negativity and the evil eye.