Naruhako.
Becoming box.

Naruhako means “becoming box” in Japanese, a name inspired by the idea that light becomes an image once it is focused through the lens of a camera and then developed in a dark box.

My interest in analog large format portraiture began with witnessing how a photograph can transform the way we see ourselves and in the stillness demanded by analog large format photography, light is held in a different way than other mediums.

Over the years, I have learned that process is as essential to the work as the final image. Photographing with an antique large format camera slows everything down, bringing both attention and light into focus. Each portrait unfolds through an open dialogue with its subject, whether person, animal, or otherwise. In the time we spend together, we jointly create the image, shaping and capturing light onto a single sheet of paper. That paper is then developed by hand in photographic chemistry, and the light becomes a representation of the process and organic dialogue.

I currently operate as a “Plein Air” studio, working outdoors at markets, in parks, and other public spaces in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.