If you’ve ever lost someone. If you’ve ever found someone. If you’ve ever reached out hoping to find a hand to guide you. If you’ve wanted to save someone. If you’ve been saved by someone. If what you chase eludes you. If you’ve captured what you seek. If you’ve felt close to someone and so far all at once. If your footprints guide those behind you.

This is for you, and for me. I have chased and I have looked behind to see if anyone was following. I have wanted to lead and I have failed. I have guided and I have been guided. This is a portrait of myself and my sister. There is so much not said in the inches between our fingers. We are both reaching, we are both faltering, we are both trying. We are both connected. We are tied like a promise knot on our pinky fingers.

There are things that only she and I truly understand about each other. There are the inside jokes we’ve had since we were little – like how we always call or text each other at 10:07, or why I call her Sessy, or the importance of stuffing a whole blanket down your pants when pretending to be a squirrel – just to name a few. We have history, perhaps more with her than any other person in my life. We have hardships. We have love. And we understand each other better than we admit.

Last week was my mom’s birthday. Today is father’s day. She and I wanted to create a portrait of both of us to give to them during this time – a very important time, that perhaps one day I’ll share – and I wanted to share that connection that she and I have with you.

A picture is never just a picture. It is what cannot be said. It is what we feel. It is our essence. I am grateful to be a photographer and to know how to capture that spirit. I thank goodness that she and I could create this together.