A little reminder

Moments like these remind me why I love photography.

This man has been the subject of a lot of photographs that have been made by me and some of my friends over the last 5/6 years. I will never forget the first time Chase and I met George.. he was out on the streets playing his drums and singing a song about hope in the middle of November.. Since then, each time we've gotten the chance to see him he always has a massive smile on his face. He's been a reminder to me that no matter what your situation is, you can always have a positive outlook. Many of us out there need that reminder from time to time.

Anyway, I met with him Friday night and he asked my why he didn't have a picture that I had taken yet... for the life of me, I couldn't think of a valid reason. He'd inspired me, provided me with some of my favorite images and all I'd given him were some handshakes and a couple dollars. So, I decided it was time. I told him that if he could meet me downtown Minneapolis on Sunday around 4pm that I would have something for him. I got an image from Friday printed at Target photo (ps thank you to the staff for the pen and the kind words). The woman who handed me my image said his face and smile in the photo instantly made her smile and just all around happy to see that positivity radiate from George.

I just figured I would share this with you all... don't forget to keep a positive mindset, no matter how tough things can get.

Wall Flowers, not always a bad thing

A few months ago I spent some time traveling through Europe, one of my favorite stops was the (highly underrated) country of Portugal. While we were there exploring around, one of the things that I couldn't stop noticing the pastel colored buildings scattered all across the country and all of the vibrant flowers that only complimented the architecture. Seeing the flowers compliment pastel walls inspired me to come up with an idea I turned into the Wild Flower Series. Honestly, the simplicity of the images caught me off guard and for a long time I was hesitant to publish them. Then one of my best friends, Rob, told me it was the most creative series he's seen me shoot. He reminded me that not every image taken has to be some grandiose composition always telling some larger story. 

What the images do for me is remind me of how simple and easy life was while on the road. Our only priorities were exploration, finding the next bottle of wine and becoming better friends. These images are a good reminder that the simplest things in life can be the most beautiful.