The first body of work I was known for, Girl Pictures, was made over twenty years ago and recently published as a monograph by Aperture. I staged photographs of girls in the American landscape as a standing army of teenage runaways in resistance to patriarchal ideals. I imagined these girls in a utopian state of eternal bliss; they built forts and lived communally, foraged for food, and took care of one another. These pictures make the communion between girls visible, foregrounding their experience as primary and irrefutable. In the intervening years, I have made a further body of work that draws on and works against a documentary tradition of road trip photography. In one way or another, my work explores notions of attachment and belonging; I approach each photograph as an opportunity to imagine new possibilities.

I bring my enthusiasm for the medium into the classroom, and regard teaching as an extension of my practice. For over a decade, I have taught at various colleges and universities in and around New York, including Parsons School of Design, Sarah Lawrence College, Columbia University, and the International Center of Photography. My classes range from critical theory and art history to practical technical instruction, but are always centered on the work of my students. The core goal of any class I teach is to help students realize the full potential of their creative vision.

My assignments and critique are structured to stimulate a process of constructive reassessment of creative habits in light of critical issues. I present students with a range of historical and contemporary work, to assist and guide them as they develop a critical framework around their own photographic practice. I situate the medium of photography in relation to other fine art media, as well as film, video, and popular culture. This interdisciplinary approach develops students’ awareness of the cultural vernacular of photography, as opposed to presenting photography as an isolated or orthodox technology. I work toward inclusiveness and stress the importance of multiple points of view, especially those voices that are too often overlooked. I foster a sense of community inside the classroom, whether in person or online, where every student feels comfortable asking questions, requesting help, and taking risks in their work.