l e a v e s

My current ongoing photo series started as a journalistic endeavor to record each day, to reference time and retain memory in a concrete manner. I began collecting and documenting one leaf for every day, noting the time, location, and any other details I felt might help me recreate the memory of that day in the future. The series now contains more than 100 leaves/days and has revealed time passing in a way that is satisfyingly intimate and weighty.

Many things contribute to make up the mind and the motives of the collector, and the reasons for collecting are not mutually exclusive. In this project I am collecting leaves, but in documenting and photographing the specifics of each finding I am also (and maybe more importantly) collecting a single moment from each day itself.

The act of collecting, of continually scanning streets and parks for each day's leaf, has also affected my relationship to my environment. I am in a constant state of observation and appreciation of the subtleties that line each day. I choose each leaf at random times in a day, in a purely aesthetic manner and with past choices in mind. I also accept found leaves from others, which is just as substantial a record, to me.

i m a g e s

This project will continue until I have completed a full year of collecting. The gaps in the beginning of the series can be attributed to the developmental lag time between finding the first inspiring leaves, and processing how to transfer my fondness for them to a project that I could share with others.