New York City 2006

These images were taken during my first magical, awestruck year in the city of dreams, seven years into my journey as a sex worker. Aspiring photographers began to contact me, something that seems to happen only in New York, and what started as a series of 'TFP' photo shoots (trade for print ~ free shoots where the photographer and model can both use the images) quickly became something deeper.

People often ask why I would pose naked, especially given my history of childhood sexual trauma. The truth is, for me, it was healing. To be seen, to be empowered, to choose how I showed up in front of the camera—it seemed to return something that had been taken. Looking back, these photos feel like a magical initiation, capturing both the vulnerability and the creative inspiration of that moment in time.