Artist Statement:

I have always been drawn to places that wear their scars openly. The working waterfront, with its rusted metal and weathered wood, feels honest to me. Every worn surface remembers a storm. Every mark carries a story of effort and survival. The beauty that lives in these places is something I understand. It is not the beauty of perfection. It is the beauty of endurance.

When I walk along coastal Maine with my camera, I recognize something of myself in the scenes I photograph. These places have been shaped by years of pressure and change, yet their colors remain vivid and alive. They do not pretend to be untouched. They simply continue on. A boat named Resurrection once caught my attention. Its name felt like a mirror held up to my own journey, and in that moment I understood the heart of this work. It is about rising, even when you carry the evidence of everything you have been through.

The water draws all of these stories together. Its reflections turn imperfections into something soft and poetic. I often look into those shifting shapes and feel the truth of transformation. Scars are not a sign that something has been broken beyond repair. They are the marks of growth. They remind us of what we have overcome, and they show us how far we have traveled.

The lighthouses embody a different kind of recognition for me. They stand with solitary courage as storms gather and darkness thickens around them. They offer guidance without asking for anything in return. Their light is steady, patient, and sincere. I see in them the kind of strength I try to cultivate in myself, a strength that is quiet and keeps going, no matter what.

Color is essential to this work because it reflects what happens inside a person after healing begins. True healing does not drain the world of vibrancy. It restores it. It allows color to return in a way that feels earned and honest. When I make these photographs, I am trying to honor that return. The soul that has healed does not simply survive. It shines.

These images carry my own story in subtle ways, but they are also meant for anyone who has lived through difficulty and found their way forward. They are an invitation to see beauty in the places shaped by struggle and to trust that light can always find its way back to us.