Duration: I worked throughout college, but I’ve been officially working full-time for one year.

Location: New Hyde Park, New York.

Education: BFA in photography and related media at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.

Career path: I was always drawn towards capturing moments. Although I was being hired to photograph weddings and random events, I searched for stories that enabled me to fuse my personal interests, like marine conservancy, and my tendency to find weird subjects. After completing two long-term documentary projects—stories about body suspension and whale observation—I knew that journalism made me truly happy. Being accepted to the Eddie Adams Workshop, a four-day gathering of top photography professionals, also pushed me to find more stories and get my work in front of the right people.

Artistic influences: Anything out of the ordinary that catches my interest.

Favorite projects: My documentation of Dr. Arthur Kopelman, a population ecologist in Long Island, New York. This story started out as my senior thesis in college, and I continued working on it throughout the summer. After shaping it into a full story, I pitched it to the New York Times, which recently published it.

Also, my first published story, which is about body suspension. After I befriended Cere Coichetti, a master body suspender, he introduced me to the weird world of body suspension. I spent four days camping in the woods of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, with him and ten other suspendees. We took turns suspending over a beautiful waterfall, which they have all have returned to over the past few years. I pitched, wrote and published this story with Narratively.

Work environment: Anywhere, from a nice, quiet day at my studio to the endless possibilities the world has to offer. Wherever I find an interesting story, I want to be there in person for it.

Approach: My favorite stories are usually a year or longer. I like to stay with my subjects for as long as the content allows. I am drawn to subjects that most people would turn away from.

Aspirations: To still be covering interesting stories. I also hope to cover many stories pertaining to ocean and nature conservancy so I can spread that knowledge to others.

Philosophy: Just talk and be kind to everyone. You never know what stories people have to tell and where they could bring you. My eyes and ears are always open.

Fun fact: I enjoy experiencing what my subjects are doing when I photograph my stories. Half the fun is experiencing these situations firsthand. When I was photographing body suspension in the forest, I had my new friends suspend me into the air for the very first time—something I never thought I would do.