Shot on Porta 400 120 film with an Asahi Pentax 6×7, then hand-developed. There Are 31 Days in July consists of 31 photographs taken in my hometown of Lawrence, Kansas, during the month of July.  I decided to start this project as a way to slow down and be present with what makes Midwest summers so euphoric during what would possibly be my last month living in my hometown.

My discovery was this: the simplicity of all my summers lived in this town brings me to the heart of ease and oneness with the meaning of existence, allowing me to soak in the beauty of what surrounds me. I take these photographs from a place of deep knowing and a sense of belonging in these streets, in these parks, in this soil, and in this sky. They will always be a part of me, a comfort like no other.

These photographs are meant to exist as a collection, bouncing off each other to tell their story. I look at my childhood here, through the gates and from the sidewalks. The mundane nature of the Midwest shows through these photographs. Nothing flashy, but deeply beautiful. Revealing the kind of place Lawrence is to me, and to many: a community, a place of faith in goodness, a place where people feel welcome, a place where there can be struggle, and a place that hangs in the balance of tranquility and spirit, like so many mid-sized college towns in the Midwest.

The passage of time cycling forward, inner worlds changing, while the place remains more or less the same, is something that everyone who has lived in the Midwest can understand, as they understand the observation of beauty in simplicity. Time is fleeting, but the omnipresent beauty of our surroundings is always with us.