Monika
These portraits were taken in January 2007 and are still some of my personal favorites. I think the range she shows here is amazing. She goes from flirtatious to silly to complete despondency in a matter of seconds, and it’s so raw. Those eyes really tell the story. And I love the red couch, which was unbearable to sit in but looked interesting on film.

Didi
There’s a surreal, hypnotic quality to this series. An experimental short video was made at the same time using all stills, which can be seen on Vimeo. They were also published in a book called The Beautiful Potential For Disaster, available here. Everything was shot in my studio except for the last two, which were taken at Ghiradelli Square.

Shanelle
I took these in the old Sacramento railyards in April 2006 as part of the cover shoot for Things Kept Burning. We had to duck behind the Amtrak Station carrying our equipment and wardrobe changes, careful to avoid the infrequent patrols. It was a lovely spring afternoon, though, and the ambient light was perfect. People really believe she’s the character from the book.

Selina
These portraits of Selina were taken in September 2011 in San Francisco. We hiked behind the Presidio Landmark building, then circled around to shoot in front of an abandoned house. I used six different types of 35 mm film, cross-processing several rolls, which explains the diversity of the images here. She was a lot of fun to work with.

Brandy Lee
These photos were taken between 2005-2011 in Sacramento, Marin and San Francisco. They’re spontaneous and have this vacation quality to them. They’re also more personal. Her photos usually have a polished, high gloss feel. I like that we were able to convey this other side, this girl next door quality.

Silvia
She is a graphic designer and singer from Medellín, Columbia. We took these portraits in the Marina in July 2009, at both the Palace of Fine Arts and Chrissy Field. An outtake from this session was on the cover of one of her CDs, which was very flattering. You can purchase her most recent album and see her music videos here.

Pearl
This series is from the spring of 2006. I was in the early stages of experimenting with cross-processing, ie. developing negatives in the wrong chemicals, which produces the over-saturation and heavy contrast. Her red hair was perfect for it. We shot them on the roof of a parking garage right across from the Sacramento Capitol.