In 2021 aproximately 4.3 million people traveled to New Hampshire to view the fall folliage, according to the New Hampshire Divison of Travel and Tourism Development. How many of those considered those autumn colors were a gift from the dying?

In art this forms the basis for the genre vanitas, where beauty is juxtaposed with symbols of decay. Vanitas remind us of our own mortality; that the pleasures of the day are fleeting.

In my images I hold a mirror to that concept, and seek instead to show how in every stage of life – including death – beauty develops. Instead of fear of mortality I hope to bring a feeling of continuity, optimism and joy.