“Pennsylvania is the 8th state that I have made my home in. It offers a landscape that is distinctly eastern American. The contrast between urban cities, suburbs, old mining towns, and open space is extremely intriguing to me. There are places deep with unique histories, and others that feel as cold and indistinct as any other place in America. At the beginning of this project I lived next to Valley Forge National Park. I have always been inclined to utilize my immediate surroundings as a photographic subject, and have consciously moved about the country with the distinct purpose of photographing my new locale. The landscape there was scenic, very beautiful and palatial. Yet, just like being outside any major US city, it was covered with suburban infrastructure. In part that is what led me to leave the city, in order to be closer to this environment while focusing on it as a photographic subject. However, this past Fall I decided to move back to Philadelphia and return to a more urban local. I have found that the juxtaposition between living in an urban setting, and shooting mainly in a rural and suburban one, allows me the balance and opportunity to approach my subject anew.”