I stayed a few weeks with my grandpa this past February at his home.  I spent my time photographing his life in St. Croix: his friendships, his aging body, and the state of St. Croix after hurricane Maria.  I wanted to explore the physical decline of a place I grew up visiting and a man I grew up thinking was invincible.  My constant documentation of his life in those weeks birthed conversation of everything from mortality to faith and family.  

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Working in the mortuary business for over 60 years, my grandpa was very adamant that there are things worse than dying - and that he was looking at the end of his life without fear.

 

I left my grandpa and traveled home with a shaken perspective and a gratitude for our time together.  I spend hours in the darkroom developing and printing these photographs and thinking of him. 

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These photographs have taken on a new meaning and audience this summer as my grandpa became ill in June and passed away in August. 

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+ photos of our last summer at home in Michigan