Looking on the Bright Side

Upon first moving to Arizona, I was astonished by the landscape – cacti dotted the hillsides, cities built between mountains, palm trees towered above me walking down the streets. Lawns were landscaped with plants that were impossible to grow in the climate of my hometown. I had never before experienced anything like the Arizona desert.

As years passed, I slowly became accustomed to the new environment, a 15 foot cactus suddenly no longer felt out of the ordinary. The desert had become lackluster to me, and I desperately wanted to recapture the feeling of bewilderment I felt when I first arrived.

Suburbia Euphoria reimagines the scenery of the Phoenix surrounding suburban areas in colorful and euphoric hues. Through the lens of a converted point-and-shoot camera, I was able to capture the full spectrum of light, unlike typical cameras that only capture visible light. Filtering out all wavelengths but infrared, I was able to achieve the effect pictured – creating familiar, yet otherworldly scenes.

Photographing in a spectrum of light invisible to the human eye provided many technical challenges, bringing newfound learning and joy to photography and pushing me to pursue a new relationship with my surroundings. I constantly find myself asking how something will react in infrared light. My work provides an exploration of the environment, but also an introspective look at myself. Looking at things from a new perspective, the invisible is made visible and brings to light beauty that would otherwise be hidden.