In my journeys as a commercial photographer + documentary director all over the world, I have gotten used to sleeping in some odd and beautiful places. From the back of an RV in rural Tennessee to the roof of a 4x4 Jeep in Iceland, and some very lovely Airbnbs throughout the world, I’ve slept in some photographic places. There is nothing like waking up in a new place on a cold morning, and breathing in a sharp burst of cold morning air.

I have also stayed in some difficult places… like the West Bank in Palestine, a rural town in Arkansas known for violence and a town in East Tennessee where hunger is widespread. I’ve slept through gunshots, early morning calls to prayer and hunger pains. These moments fill me with as much joy as the more traditionally beautiful places, because it is an honor to bear witness to others.

Learning a sense of ease and rest has been so important to me, which is why keeping my hometown base of Nashville has been key as I’ve grown as a commercial photographer.

Coming home to the light reminds me why I’m grounded.

When I’m searching for those lovely slants of light throughout the world, I have to know them closer to home… so that I can find them and also a sense of place wherever I go.

The sun rises on us all. We are all equal when we breathe in and out. We are all familiar with some form of the light.

Though the light changes closer to the equator and changes again further from it, it still moves, an old familiar friend.

Whether I’m studying the light at my base in Nashville, TN or shooting commercial advertising work across the globe, I’m always home.