I am passionate about photography and the power that it has to tell stories. 

I have a rich family heritage. I grew up surrounded by stories of immigrants building their lives in a promising country, bringing their diverse backgrounds with them to share with others. My father dropped out of high school at 15, came to the United States with a backpack and $400 from New Zealand, and built up his construction business from scratch. I used to feed chickens on the farm that he grew up on, afterward hopping into my grandad’s old manual truck with his dogs to herd the sheep around the corner. My mom’s father was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, and he became the first doctor in his family to practice medicine in America; another first-generation immigrant.

My mom always kept some Turkish traditions inherent in her life to pass down to me. When we fly together, she pulls out a little collection of mavi boncuk’s (evil eyes), one for each of the Turkish women in our family. We give each one a little kiss before our plane takes off, starting with my great-grandmother’s and ending with mine. When I was a baby my parents worked full time, so they hired a Bulgarian woman who had just recently immigrated to the US to take care of me. She has been in my life ever since. The first summer I traveled to stay with her in Bulgaria, she brought me to a monastery in the mountains where we spent the night. We both lit a candle, placed it inside the church for good health, and wrote down our hopes for the coming year on small pieces of paper to place next to the candles.

I have unwavering gratitude for my heritage, for my parents and my family, and for the opportunities that they gave me to immerse myself in different cultures at a very young age. I will never take for granted the fact that my heart lies in places worldwide. Its diversity is what pushed me to learn how to document my travels. 

Photography has the power to tell a story, unlike any other art form. The artist sees the canvases right in front of their eyes, as they instantly capture the essence of one fleeting moment. That split second is now preserved forever and can be shared across multiple platforms all around the world. It can tell the story of a vibrant sunset over the ocean, or a quiet early morning in a bustling city. However, photography also has the potential to inspire change. We have seen our planet being abused, lashing out at its inhabitants who have taken advantage of it. From wildfires to tsunamis to earthquakes that devastate such tight-knit communities, the power of advocacy through visual storytelling is what now fuels my passion for photography. I want to capture the world's beauty and share its citizens' stories on a global scale. I hope that through photography, I can help advocate for sustainable travel, cultural immersion, and environmental protection. Finding the beauty in diversity is one way that we can push for the preservation of all that we see in front of us, for our families and our future generations.