"I've always wanted to blur the line between watercolor and photography, between a painting and a photograph. I love when things exist in a nebulous space where you have to ask, Is that a painting or a photograph?

I was watching The Last Emperor by Bertolucci, and there was a scene that captivated me. In the background, a group of monks walked past a window, but because the lens was focused on the foreground, they distorted. They were out of focus and backlit, turning into these lyrical, almost ghost-like figures. Their arms extended disappeared, then reappeared-spaces between their limbs took on soft, rounded shapes due to the way lenses bend light. I became enamored with that ghostly quality and thought, I want to capture something like that.

So, I set up a shoot. I backlit the model so she was almost a silhouette, then used reflectors to softly illuminate her. She stood against a white background, and I adjusted the focus -
experimenting with just how much blur to introduce. As I started shooting, I fell in love with what I was seeing. But the images were monochromatic-just skin tones. That's when I
thought, What if I added diaphanous fabric? Something sheer, like a chemise, to create movement and shape?
I bought fabrics in different colors and had my model move freely, letting the fabric fow and transform. It became a dance between us. She would do something beautiful, and I'd say, I
love that-click! She'd amplify it, and I'd capture more.

Later, I brought the images into Photoshop. If her skin had a soft golden hue, I might push it toward blue, enhancing the colors of the fabrics as well. I kept refining until the images occupied a space that was clearly not real, yet undeniably photographic. And that's what I love most-when someone looks at one and asks, Is that a photograph? I wasn't trying to make a statement; I was just composing for composition's sake, drawn to the beauty of form and movement. That process became my focus for three years."