Dad Brushing Katy's Hair Like When We Were Little

Serving as a visual diary, my photographic project Closer is an ongoing exploration of the tenderness and vulnerability existing within interpersonal connection. After contracting Lyme disease at the age of 11 years old, I spent 5 years of my adolescence inconsistently attending school and often bedridden. This altered my social experience, limiting the depths of my relationships. After being cured and returning to high school for my junior year, it was as if I’d been born into a 17-year-old body. I finally began to experience and understand the intensity and tenderness that was possible within relationships. Connection became a cherished honor, something to document out of a desire for preservation. I realized I was driven by the act of becoming closer. The works in this project capture the tactile and emotional quality of these gentle moments, where my subject and I are witnesses to one another’s authenticity. My photographic ritual is an active practice celebrating the act of growing closer.

I came across this moment in which my father was gently brushing my older sister's hair, ridding it of tangles and knots just like he so thoughtfully did when we were children. The action, a quiet display of love, was only unexpected as my sister and I have long been old enough to brush our own hair. This extension of love from my father acted as an outstretched hand to my sister, showing her that he will always care for us, no matter how old we get.