iamamiwhoami — “Fountain”

As the icy cold winter hit most of the Northern hemisphere, remembering throw back memories through a bold, monochrome portrait of this beautiful face bring back the salty, clear waters and touch of the sun on our skin. 2016 summer; spontaneous & free are just the two words to describe it. The image is one of the intuitively created photography series just like the summer in Mediterranean lands.

Kelela — “Better”

A photograph about human relations and accepting differences. We are all medicine students and when we all can gather in the correct time I’d like to take photographs that have deep meaning to me. To all of us. So It’s about 5 pm, I called my friends to the student village to take this photograph. It’s Raziye’s face resting on the arms of Dilara and İrem. And you can see her face expressing her reality into the image.

Kelela is someone who can reflect the humanly connection into her songs so beautifully, I could not think of any other artist looking at this photograph. When you listen to this song you know there is a pure long story in the song that you don’t know about. When I look at this photograph I feel the same.

Talking Heads — “(Nothing But) Flowers”

I shot this photo of my friend Leila a few years ago in Vancouver at VanDusen in the Rhododendron Gardens.

OBESØN — “Midnight Clock”

My work is a study of light and organic manipulation, while showing the rawness of my subjects.

Shintaro Sakamoto — “Extremely Bad Man”

A sunny day in the park this past summer, most likely accompanied by a couple cold ones. Toronto Ontario. 2017

Clark — “Petroleum Tinged”

This image is part of a series of portraits I shot in 2017. This particular one is a favorite of mine. It has a real intensity to it which I love. The track I chose implies a dark grittiness in the title but also reveals a remarkable joy and beauty in the melody which I think mirrors this image well.

Modest Mouse — “Talkin’ Shit About a Pretty Sunset”

I have an ongoing photo series entitled “Verses in my Mind” where I use song lyrics as inspiration for self portraits. This one uses the Modest Mouse lyrics (quite literally) “Looking kinda anxious in your cross-armed stance, like a bad tempered prom queen at a homecoming dance.” I permitted out a gym across the street from me in the community center and found that purple 80’s prom dress for ONE DOLLAR at a thrift store in the valley. Had a lot of fun with this one.

Weyes Blood — “In the Beginning”

This is a photograph of my sister. At that time, we were both quite fragile and lost with what to do, to be in our life. I took this very intimate picture of her one morning. Several years after I realise how much those times matters to create your own path, to understand and love yourself more. And to me, this is what the wonderful song of Weyes Blood is about.

Simon and Garfunkel — “The Only Living Boy in New York”

I shot this 35mm film portrait of my dear friend Matt while exploring lower Manhattan. We often go on adventures together, and I can’t imagine living in the city without him. To that end, I paired portrait with the song “The Only Living Boy in New York” released by Simon and Garfunkel in 1970. The track speaks to our friendship and the photographs sense of timelessness.

David Bowie — “Sound and Vision”

A Portrait of Mariana Zaragoza.

Bruce Springsteen — “Red Headed Woman”

Briggs of Wilhelmina Models, came to my house at the shore for a day, and we shot some very windy images. These are my favorites, and Bruce is a neighbor, and such a humble gentleman who I have had the good fortune to know for years.

Jorge Ben — Chove Chuva

Her last name is Musetti which means “little muse” in Italian. We met this summer near Pavia while I was staying with my cousin in Northern Italy. We fell in love while she was still with her boyfriend of two years, very Master of None Season 2. I left for home in July and returned back for a week in August, just to see her, which we spent on the Trebbia river and then drove to Camogli. I took a million photos of her, but this is the best one from our time on the Trebbia.

Chove chuva is the first song I sent her after we met. I gave her my login to Spotify and every time she sees me listening to music she’ll change the song to it.

Alex Cameron — “Stranger’s Kiss”

My friend asked me to take his portrait with make up on and a dress. It was supposed to be a way to honor the relationship with his mother and sister.

Prince — “U got the look”

This is a portrait of a stranger taken outside Frieze art fair. As eccentric and intriguing personalities are attracted to the fair – the event is for me not only an exhibition of the art itself but also its spectators.

Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – “Grey Cell Green”

This is a photo of my friend Lexie I shot a few years ago at a nursery in Silver Lake, CA. It was a gloomy day and I was cruising around with her doing random things. I think we went to Muji, too, but that’s not important. Anyway, I chose this song by Ned’s Atomic Dustbin because I’ve always loved it and this particular Rick Howard part from the Plan B “Questionable” video resonates extra hard because it’s great, but also because the song is perfect. Also, since the photo is largely grey and green in terms of color, the song title seemed fitting.

21 Savage & Metro Boomin — “Rap Saved Me”

I am working on a personal project called “The other side of San Diego” where the epidemic in drug addiction among gangs and other kinds of lifestyles consume the South and South East communities within San Diego.

This picture was taken in National City of someone who from one of San Diego’s most infamous gangs ‘OTNC’ he has shared memories and experiences about living within that fashion about what it does and how he feels today about it.

Future Islands — “Like the Moon”

Last Spring, when everything was about to born again from the nature, in a yellow and warm afternoon, i shoot this portrait of my girlfriend in the city park. Her name is Bruna, this is one of my favorite portraits of her, we have huge connection about everything what surrounds us. We love to look up to night sky, and talk about the mystery of the universe.

Travis Scott — “The Ends”

This is one of my favorite images I took of my friend. Initially I wanted to shoot him because I have always took pictures of women and he is the first guy I really took time to shoot. I loved how when I desaturated the picture it became a dark and mysterious image. Travis Scott’s voice in the beginning of the song really resonates with image that’s why i chose it.

Björk – “Utopia”

This portrait of my housemate João was taken on the 27th of December, when he randomly asked me to photograph him with his “pet” carnivorous plant. He is a landscape gardener, and I find this image to be very representative of his almost spiritual connection with nature.

Junip — “Don’t Let it Pass”

This is a portrait of my friend Gabby taken almost 4 years ago. We stayed in boarding school in the countryside and weren’t allowed off premises but we knew of a way to sneak into the forest next to the school grounds where there was a lake. She heard an animal in the shrubs and went off to find it. The picture shows only her hat peeking above the shrubs while she crouches down. We were really close but after that year she had to go back to her home country and I never met her again.

Thomas Dybdahl — “One Day You’ll Dance For Me, New York City”

I photographed my sister Jenny right as she rolled out of bed one slow morning a few years ago. As an actress in New York City, there’s a lot of mental armor she has to put on in order to do her job. I wanted to capture her in the moments before she put it on, when it felt like there was still lightness, still hope.

The Milk Carton Kids — “Michigan”

I met Brianna at Ox-bow School of Art in Saugatuck, Michigan a few years ago. We were in the same two-week-long class together that summer, and I took this portrait of her only days after we had met each other for the first time. We’ve become good friends over the years, and this photo remains one of my personal favorites.

Death Cab For Cutie — “I Will Follow You Into The Dark”

This double exposure was created when I was walking around downtown Grand Rapids, MI with a friend. Multiple exposure photography reminds me of the way our memories fade overtime and how our brains will borrow from other memories to fill in the gaps; the darker parts of one image allow for the brighter parts of another image to come through coming together into one exposure. Similarly, I Will Follow You Into The Dark allows the memories shared with a loved one to coexist with the singer’s thoughts and hopes for their future together.

Wes Willenbring — “Oh, Most”

When I was setting up a time to visit Rachel of Serpent & Bow, she suggested that we wait until the light illuminated the studio prisms in the evening. I’m really glad we did.

Julien Baker — “Good News”

A portrait of my best friend Charlie, taken while we ate breakfast.

Janis Joplin — “Half Moon”

This is a self portrait out of my Moony series. Depicting my reflection in a round mirror it´s an allegory of the Moon, here the Half moon, the Moon that never shows itself to us fully. It illustrates the mystery i am to myself and to the other, my dark side, the lost and forgotten. I heard Janis Joplin´s song in my head already while making it, there is the longing, the melancholy of one love and the half moon, there is the energy and voice i like so much.

My Bloody Valentine — “Sometimes”

This is a photo of my friend, Justina. I took it when she was modeling clothing for my Depop shop. She does ballet and we were just goofing around dancing in my clothes, being creative with the product photographs. I was caught completely off guard when I swiped back through them and saw this one. This photo is her essence.

Apocalypse — “Cigarettes After Sex”

This is a photo taken on my boyfriend while on holiday in Tokyo.

Chet Faker — “Blush”

I had been chasing Liam for a little over a year to get him in front of my lens; he’s a very sensual and strong person but has an introverted and shy outward personality. The first time I saw him, I fell in love with him instantly. I had developed a muse kind of love and longing for him, and it frightened me when he finally said ‘yes’ to my burning question to let me photograph him.

I chose this photo because, for me, it represents a secret passion and love for someone, without being in love with them – but still being shaken to your core because of them. They change you, they challenge you – simply by being who they are.

I thought Chet Faker’s ‘Blush’ would go well with it, because of the seductive look paired with the secrecy of half of his face missing and how we all feel that contradiction when we long for someone.

Forest Swords — The Highest Flood

Portrait of Safiya, whom I met in my search to collaborate with local creatives. She’s a fashion designer, artist and model.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

This picture was took in the train while we were traveling from Tokyo to Karuizawa. I love this picture because everything is perfect and there are something that viewers would be confused.

Tricky — “The Only Way”

As you may noticed, my submission is a portrait of an actual singer/musician, Tricky. I got a chance to meet him before the show in my city and was asked to take a few portraits for one magazine. I was nervous when I came to the room and Tricky seemed a bit angry. But when we met, he became the most kindest and easy-going person ever! We casually talked a bit about fans and life in general, it was cool.

Tom Misch ft. Tobie Tripp — “For Carol”

It was warm for October in Quebec, but the water was freezing. Mico was the first one in. The rest of us were all smiles. For a while he floated there alone, treading water. We watched from the shore. Eventually the rest of us swam too.

Wilco — “Radio Cure”

Last summer I was feeling restless living in a large city. Me and a few friends decided to drive out to go on a hike and it felt very refreshing to be around the nature, if only for the day. Near the end of the hike my friend Aaron stopped over a large crevice. I took this photograph of him there. It felt important and still does.

Bombay Bicycle Club — “Eyes Off You”

A perfect fragment of light entered our room and my brother felt it.

Sixth June — “Drowning”

The person portrayed is the actual singer of Sixth June. It was one of the first portraits I took after I moved to Berlin and I always associate the gloomy atmosphere of that day (and this city) with this particular song.

Ciara — “Like a Boy”

The portrait was made right after the boyfriend broke her heart. And we talked, but was it normal to behave like a guy. Be cold-blooded and play with other people’s feelings. There is no unequivocal answer. But the song perfectly describes what we meant.