Persona is companion to the lens. It always has been. To strip the portrait of persona is to photograph vulnerability - this is no simple task. You see, portraits are records. Fossils of character. In many ways, I’ve grown to cherish strength in my vulnerability and invite the intimacy in trust. Yet, I am simultaneously ever-changing, and often, this transition is one neither the lens, nor myself, can properly preserve. In Kate’s images, however, I see that moment. It is of truth, of growth, and of individuality. It is of me - every single part of me. Her commitment to the individual does not go unnoticed, and is unquestionably the source of power in these images. For this and so much more, thank you, Kate.
- Hana Mendel