ANONYMOUS SORROW

This portfolio “Anonymous Sorrow” combining photography and text on paper alongside two large works on silk, began as a response to human pain. In October 2023, a moment on a computer screen changed everything.

On my screen, through a Gazan journalist’s camera, I watched as two boys carried another between them—their hands forming a makeshift stretcher. The injured boy’s nearly-severed foot swung in the air. This image resonated deeply as I had recently suffered a similar injury, yet my circumstances allowed complete recovery thanks to a nearby friend and immediate medical access in one of the world’s wealthiest cities. Same injury, drastically different outcomes—determined solely by geography. My peaceful Pacific Northwest neighborhood stood in stark contrast to his war-torn reality.

This profound disparity compelled me to create, to preserve this young stranger’s story and immortalize this difficult truth.

Beginning with written reflections, I processed what I had witnessed. These writings transformed into a fusion of traditional and contemporary—wooden letterpress imprinting key phrases onto archival pigment prints. The photographs span my collection from 2005 to 2023, captured on both film and digital media, each image carefully selected to communicate this moment of connection across continents.