Confronting a blank backdrop often creates an unnatural stiffness in subjects. My solution was crafting these paper environments—sculptural spaces people could interact with during sessions. The paper constructions, combined with carefully arranged reflectors, transform the traditional portrait experience into something more collaborative. Subjects begin to reveal themselves differently when given something to respond to physically.
These "Paper Portraits" evolved organically from this process, eventually leading to work with FiftyThree Inc. and various publications.
Their real value is in the psychological breathing room they create between photographer and subject and the luminous spaces that result.
