I have officially lived in Tucson for one year now. I can’t believe how fast that went. Except for a three year stint in Los Angeles I’d spent my entire life living around Seattle and at various points found myself connected with different communities seemingly always looking for the community that I felt I belonged in. I never quite found it. What I didn’t realize was that maybe it wasn’t me, maybe it was Seattle. Going all the way back to college and my time in the theater community Seattle had this problem of always looking outward believing that the greatest talent was somewhere outside the city. Homegrown artists often were not given their due until they’d gone somewhere else (New York, Los Angeles, London, Chicago) and proven themselves. It was at this point people would say “hey so and so is from here,” but they’d long moved on. Tucson is the antithesis to all this. What I never expected and was overjoyed to discover is that people who live in Tucson have this incredible sense of loyalty to Tucson businesses and artists that live and work here, and there are some incredible artists here. There’s always an exception, someone who hates it, someone desperately looking to get out, but on the whole there are so many galleries, venues, marketplaces, and organizations dedicated to helping local artists and businesses thrive. For my part I’ve found that I want to be a part of this Tucson loyalty, shooting mainly in the city with people living in the city. And I’ve found some really incredible and sincere people here to work with, this project of shooting nudes in Viejo is a tough one, so for @desertfreak to come in with so much enthusiasm warmed my heart. Then to proceeded and absolutely embody the spirit of what I’m working on… I still can’t accurately put in to words how proud I am of what we captured on this day.