Historic West Adams: Rebuilding A Family Gem

After owning this historic home for 15 years, we sold the property on December 31, 2019. My mother had purchased it “AS IS”, scraping together all she could to buy one of the cheapest houses in the area. From day one we had become accustomed to regularly repairing the pre-WWI property. The last 18 months…

Ethics of Palm Oil

Flying over Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, almost all of the visible farmland is covered in palm trees. These are crops that are specifically cultivated for the production of palm oil. While the palm oil tree is one of the most efficient sources of vegetable oil, it has also become highly controversial to due…

Voices of Nepal: Resilience in Disability

In September, 2017, my friend Paulo introduced me to several humanitarian projects in Nepal. Together we created videos to raise funds for three specific causes and capture the resilience of the beneficiaries when given a little support from helping hands.

Drop Earrings Not Bombs

AJ+ published this short video about the initiative on October 17, 2016. The original video post can be found on Facebook. Drop Earrings Not Bombs (DENB) is a social entrepreneurship initiative started in March 2016 with the goal of teaching job skills, improving psychosocial health, and providing income support to refugees. From frame to thread, all…

Greece’s Refugee Crisis: Editorial Photo Contributions

AYS SPECIAL: Last tent folded: refugees evicted from Piraeus port View at Medium.com AYS DAILY DIGEST 27/7: Evictions and poor conditions in camps urge proper housing View at Medium.com AYS DAILY NEWS DIGEST 28/7 — Eastern Aleppo residents are being strangled by the siege View at Medium.com AYS News 18/10: Calais eviction sprouts new “Jungles”…

Sevgili Arkadaşım – My Dear Friend

The woman in the photo is my mother. I found the picture more than 10 years after I had taken it, recognizing the light switch and the camera angle from when I was shorter than my mother. Most familiar to me was her expression. What must have been discarded as a bad portrait long ago…

Before I Die: Quito, Ecuador

Inspired by Candy Chang’s TED talk, this project was carried out to help bring awareness to the value of life. The interactive walls were first exhibited on Easter weekend amidst the large number of people that flocked to the city’s famous churches for the religious occasion in a predominantly Catholic country. Carrying the boards from San Blas to Plaza…