Artist Statement

In this project, I aim to reimagine a traditional sorority composite-

- a sort of “yearbook picture” of the women in a specific chapter of a sorority- by capturing the authentic beauty of my sisters and my chapter through both portraits and stills. Rather than focusing on the polished, perfected, and manicured aesthetic traditionally associated with composite photography, I have chosen to highlight what makes these women truly beautiful: their individuality, their uniqueness, and their humanity. In these close-up, detailed portraits, I lean into the parts of ourselves we may be conditioned to hide or edit away. I believe that these “flaws,” these subtle expressions, natural features, and honest moments offer a rawer lens through which to see not only the beauty of the subject, but the essence of the person behind the image.  

Alongside the portraits, stills taken throughout the Gamma Phi house offer a quieter, more intimate perspective, and show the lives of these women but through environments they shape: traditional china cabinets and Greek letters they pass every day, mailboxes they share, and signage of the values we live by. These spaces reflect their routines, personalities, and connections with one another, and ground the project in lived experience. As I reflect on my journey in my involvement in the sisterhood of Gamma Phi Beta, this project

feels like a personal love letter to the women who have shaped me for the past three years.

It is an effort to dismantle the limiting portrayals of sorority life and instead offer a more layered, compassionate view of the women within it. I want the viewers to see them as I do: joyful, complex, kind, and strong women who have guided me through every high and low, and whose presence has made all the difference.