I fell into photography sort of by accident, although I’ve had other artistic or creative jobs and hobbies. I’ve always been drawn to the somewhat gritty places, what some might call “the seedy underbelly,” because to me, they often feel more authentic and teeming with an energy that is harder to find in places and spaces that have a more refined veneer or a newer façade. In my photographs, I’m not trying to make the run down beautiful, but rather demonstrate that the run down is beautiful, if beauty is even the aesthetic goal one is trying to achieve, which itself is a notion I challenge.