These images are part of "Home Is...", a film photography series exploring my identity and upbringing as a mixed-race Black American. The project began with a poem I wrote in February 2026 during a period of severe depression, shaped by homesickness and longing. Each line of the poem inspires photographs about the people, places, and experiences that shape my understanding of home.

This selection, "What Does Home Mean to You?", revisits childhood trips to the Oregon Coast. Growing up in a tight-knit Black community in the Pacific Northwest, I remember the coast as a rare place where my family could exist beyond the constant gaze and behavioral policing of white America. Through staged portraits of my niece and her partner, I seek to recreate that sense of freedom and belonging, exploring how memory and place shape identity.

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