#justsimi

07-09-2015

Beauty can manifest itself in various forms, from the untainted innocence of children as they play, ignorant to the problems of the world, to the awe-inspiring lamentations of Kid Cudi that comprise the masterpieces that are Man on the Moon I & II.

A few summers ago, the men in my family and I took a road trip to White Sands National Monument, in New Mexico. Admittedly this location was the latest "it" spot to photograph amongst the Dallas Instagram community, and I couldn't help but follow the trend as it appeared to be something of an enigma. From first glance it's very apparent White Sands lacks numerous attributes found then more conventional desserts, for example, it’s missing the usual indigenous ecology( scorpions, snakes, cacti, etc), climate extremes and of course the golden brown sand.

As cool the White Sands was, I found that beauty was in the journey rather than the actual destination. The entirety of the trip was just under 3 full days, consisting just over 1200 miles, and $200 worth of food from Chili's, McDonald's, and numerous gas stations. 

Instagram: @justsimi

*The photographs pictured were taken with a Canon EOS 6D (w/ either a Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8 ii or Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 ii.) or a Sony a7ii (w/ a Sony FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS, Sony FE 35mm f/2.8 ZA or Sony FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA) from

06-01-2016

As we grow older our taste pallet changes over time. As a child, my parents saw it fit that we eat at home as often as possible, consuming traditional African dishes comprised of various ratios of rice, beans, meat, fruits and vegetables. At that point of my life I was unaware of the nutritional benefits attained from such a low fat, high protein diet, that still encompasses metabolically efficient simple, and complex carbohydrates. however, this presented an unforeseen dilemma once I reached high school.

With me no longer having to depend on my parents for money or a ride to restaurants I became addicted to fast food, most notably McDonald's where I found myself regularly consuming high sodium/saturated fat items loaded with preservatives and other industrial compounds.

Luckily by my senior year/ first year in college I began to branch out and dine at non-franchise establishments when I discovered how much variation there is amongst locations, how poor the overall food quality is to begin with, and how the detrimental it is to one's health. These photos are from a burger joint in Dallas, Texas by the name of Twisted Root (Deep Ellum location). I had heard about them for quite some time and finally decided to pull the trigger with my friend AG and to my surprise, it did not disappoint. Since then I've been there a handful times, and my only gripe being that they removed chili cheese fries from the menu because the owner wasn't satisfied with the chill equality. Oh well. 

When taking into consideration how much "better" privately owned restaurants are then that of traditional franchise, it was pretty easy for me remove them from my diet. I understand this is a bit of an unorthodox way to go about remedying such a predicament but...... YOLO I guess, so you might as well make the most of it ... until next time.

Instagram: @justsimi

September 26, 2014

The Internet, or technology rather as a whole, never ceases to amaze me. With it we have the ability to communicate with virtually anyone around the world at any given moment. On September 26th, 2014, I found myself atop of one of the tallest structures in Dallas, enjoying the company of numerous photographers who I admire.  Earlier that week I had met a videographer by the name of Lenox (IG: @lenoxii) at a gas station. I noticed his camera and proceeded to spark up a conversation with him and by the end, we made plans to meet up in Dallas later that week. With that in mind, I saw this as an opportunity to meet up with other photographers who frequently shoot that area as well. Throughout the week, I ended up messaging a few up and coming photographers (IG: @javier_boselli @josephdalcour), most notably a street photographer by the name of Gabe (IG: @slowdownhomie). I’m not sure exactly why but made the quickest connection with Gabe, immediately having multiple in-depth conversations over religion, aspirations, and music. On the evening of the 24th Lenox and I met up with everyone on the 32nd of the building. I was immediately discouraged as that was the highest the elevator could go, however undenounced to me Gabe had already contacted others in advanced about assisting me up the last few flights of stairs. 

4/18/15 Sony A7ii w/ 55mm f1.8 ZA