The PhotoSmith

as we are

This portrait session with Barbette -- an actress and life model -- was a major turning point in my photography. I'll have to share that story someday.

a great fear of shallow living

Revisiting a long-ago portrait of Erica Jay, shot in her living room in Brooklyn.

See you not the day is waning, waning fast?

gridere

Amina Tyler in the basement of my old studio

exothermia

Syblina amongst two of the great economic drivers in my hometown -- tobacco and academia. She stands on a frigid March morning at the base of the American Tobacco Power Plant stack, an iconic part of Durham's skyline.

beau line

LetMeDelightYou was one of the most strikingly beautiful people I've ever photographed.

qubit state

Nicolette between two lightsabers -- custom-built light sources that I need to break out again, soon.

break line

Nicolette on an abandoned bridge in the rain

an accumulation of yesterdays

debourrement

unimaginable diamonds

My first real multi-model shoot -- so amazing that we called it "The Epic Shoot" for years.

helper of the masses

One of the things I love about photographing people is meeting fascinating, amazing people, like Danielle Boachie, also known as Miss Velvet. Yesterday, I learned that Danielle died by suicide last year, on the day before my birthday. 

Danielle was a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ equality, sex workers' rights, and a vocal ally for victims of domestic violence. As Miss Velvet, she was a ...

de Casteljau lives

A quick shoot with Kay Cauldwell (and her daughter).

absconsa

Religionn finds shelter under an abandoned tractor trailer.

ararískein

Check back later for a Patreon-exclusive behind the scenes peek at how I edited this image.

cuprum

A new twist on a long-ago shoot with Sarah Voss.

A peek at my current workstation

I’m still working out of my dining room, but at least I have a proper adjustable desk setup, now.

the origin of rocks

A figure abstraction featuring Holly in the studio.

the river knows no hurry

Elsie Driver along the banks of the Flat River, north of Durham.

baslec

A recent shoot with Alluring in Asheville, NC.

prospectus

Stevie Macaroni in a quiet moment in the studio.

adumbration

Ellie Caswell in the studio. I love a good shadow.

Please excuse the disruptions

I've had to relocate my office (for the third time in 2022). At least, this time, it's for happy reasons -- my fiancée just landed a fantastic job, but it means our shared home office is now her office. 

So, I'm working out of the dining room… at least until I can rebuild the shed in the background into an office and photo studio suite.

hachure

Morgan Rose during a rather risky photoshoot in a corner of a public park in Raleigh, NC.

the clearest way to the Universe

Luz de Luna photographed in the forests outside of Richmond, Virginia. 

I think this may be the featured set for August…

in a bold balance

A new edit from a 2014 shoot with the incredible ONOH.

Who is the PhotoSmith?

where I am not understood

Revisiting that time that Bunny was wandering in the lobby of my old studio space. 

specific gravity

Vex Voir playing in a train yard

delphinium

I love making photographic prints with chemistry. This is a digital-born cyanotype (an alternative photographic process that predates silver-halide printing). Each cyanotype is unique (I brush the chemistry onto fine art watercolor paper using Japanese hake brushes).

This photograph of Elisa Dandelion was made in a park in the middle of New Orleans in 2016.