When I lived in Newark, NJ and had an east-facing window I started most weekend mornings slowly. I would lay in bed, examining myself and my surroundings. Little things, like how the sunlight hit my sheets and cast shadows into the folds would fascinate me. I’d bask in the peace and stillness that filled the air I breathed. When I finally rose, I’d watch myself, intrigued by the automatic and conditioned behaviors I found myself repeating. I’d get curious about how behaviors – like yoga, making coffee, going for a run, making my bed, putting on clothes, or going straight into the bathroom – shifted through different ages and phases of my life. From this personal perspective I created the project, Waking Up.

Waking Up is a documentary project that tells the intimate story of how a person starts their day. How one person starts their morning is different from the next. It is telling of who that person is and where they are in that moment. How we start our day usually sets the tone for the rest of it. I wanted to explore the emotionality of these personal moments that felt like secrets I was lucky my subjects were willing to share.

My goal is to offer viewers and my subjects a glimpse into one of humanity's most natural and vulnerable processes.