Dignity: The Light Within

Dignity sits in conversation with Introspection, even though their subjects differ. Where Introspection turns inward, shaped by personal reflection and the silence of absence, Dignity faces outward toward strangers met on city streets, each carrying their own story. But both series circle the same terrain: the emotional architecture of being human.

In Dignity, I traveled across the United States making portraits of people I met in public spaces. Most were unhoused, and others were simply passing through. What struck me wasn’t just the harshness of circumstance, but the emotional weight beneath the surface: regret, joy, fear, hope, and a hunger for connection. These portraits don’t document environments. They confront the viewer with presence, eye to eye.

Like Introspection, this work is not about answers. It’s about the quiet reckoning that happens when we slow down long enough to really see another person and, in doing so, see ourselves. What we share goes deeper than appearances. It touches something elemental: our need for recognition, for belonging, for love. That’s the heart of both series.

I believe all faces deserve to be seen.