“Daijoubu” or “I’m Fine” (2021)

Shot on 35mm black and white film on miniature sets and Gunpla models built by myself, this work is an exploration into toxic masculinity and how it is not only damaging to society generally but men specifically. All editing was done traditionally in a dark room with no digital manipulation on 11”x 14” Ilford photography paper.

132 men in the United States commit suicide daily. There are a myriad of reasons for this, but a very large and compelling one is the idea that it is bad for men to discuss their feelings. We are taught that to show feelings is to show weakness, and a weak man is unacceptable. These series of photographs represent a man struggling with those feelings beneath the armor he and society have build around him, resulting in him eventually attempting to literally tear through that armor and ultimately ending his life because he was unable to.

Suicide prevention hotline: 1-800-273-TALK or dial 988