Daylight is a series of photographs that utilize a setting with a white wall and natural light to create a portrait. By excluding light sources which may signal artificiality, and limiting contextual signifiers in the background, this series is an attempt to convey what may be the genre of portraiture’s primary purpose: to create an image that transcends the reproduction of a person’s likeness.

Because daylight is fundamental to everyday life, this series visually signals our fundamental common experience. In essence, these images rely on the idea that employing daylight helps to signal universality in the medium of photography.

Regarding portraiture, it’s my view that if you want to convey something hidden or truthful about a person, you actually have to know that person. If your purpose is to reproduce faces and bodies, then that’s capable with no introduction—just show up and start shooting. But portraits seem to require a familiarity between photographer and subject only capable after some time.

That’s why everyone depicted in this series is someone I know very closely. These are my friends, my loved ones, and people who have made a difference in my life.