Coming of age and discovering the power of your sexuality is a profoundly transformative time. It’s also a confusing process, particularly when you aren’t sure what your sexuality is. Before I was out to myself, I was using photography as an access point and an intermediary into the intimate lives of my friends as they made their own explorations, perhaps unconsciously (but rightly) hoping that something in what they revealed would help me recognize myself and my own desires. Being behind the camera created the safety of a boundary in a new world with seemingly no boundaries-- I didn’t just want to create work, I wanted to live it. Photographing the openness of the people in these pictures helped me to be open myself, and eventually to discover my own truth and identity.