The idea of 'fresh to death' originally came to fruition during Peace Corps pre-service training. The culture, the sounds, the style, the food, the people, the patterns, the smells -- all wildly unique to Indonesia, stimulating every sense, embedding strong impressions in my memory; aspects of life that I had never experienced during my previous times abroad. Throughout the duration of my service, F2D has developed into something more. The idea is still the same. I still work hard to observe, absorb, and reflect upon what I do see, but my focus has changed. It's less about the foreignness and irony (because that's worn off). I wanted a place where I could convey the real Indonesia through photography but then I realized, I don't really know what the real Indonesia is. It's certainly one of the most diverse countries in the world. How much of East Java do I even understand? It's hard to tell.
I'll give you what I do know: how to honestly capture the people I meet and the places I go. My life in the village. Being raw. Being sensitive and humorous at the same time. From these photos, I hope to evoke similar senses that I once felt during those moments for others following this project.