How Do You Say Goodbye is a work-in-progress series navigating life after loss. Grief is often put on a timeline. Seven stages, one is expected to move through quickly, get back to work, and resume the routines of one’s daily life. However, there is no official road map for how to work through the aftermath of unexpected loss. How does one navigate the deep-seated pain, emptiness, exhaustion, mental fog, and forgetfulness that go along with grief? How does life go back to normal when things are no longer the same?

Creating these images is an attempt to find the road map to healing after loss. The images represent the experience of trying to feel like oneself again while processing cumulative grief. A way to pull myself out of the darkness while reflecting on the memories they would have had. Tracing the footsteps of loved ones and documenting the places they once loved but will never see, hear, or feel again. From the wind rushing through the forest, as my father sat in his tree stand patiently waiting for deer to grace his presence. The sun setting through the trees, the chill of the night seeping in, and heading back to the warmth of his camper before getting up at the crack of dawn to do it all over again. Each image, searching for signs of his presence with each snap of a branch, gust of wind, and changes in light, echoes the despair, longing, and gratitude that come with the hardest goodbye.

So, what do you do when it feels as if the world around you is crumbling? How do you say goodbye to someone when they are ripped away from your life too soon? I make photographs, and hope that maybe one day it won’t hurt so much.