This nomadic portrait studio tent was our world for many years.

Step inside and I will show you a world of beauty, adventure... and even heartbreak.

A thread 🧵 For years, we dragged our nomadic studio tent across almost every region of Ethiopia. In our tent, everyone was equal. We captured pure magic.

Melkam Timket መልካም ጥምቀት

This little behind the scenes video shows how Ethiopia has captured my imagination for so many years. This is the legend of how the people of Lake Ziway came to celebrate Timket in a unique way.

The islands of Lake Ziway contain hidden monasteries. In the 16th century, the Zay people took refuge on the islands, keeping alive their faith & protecting holy artifacts from invaders.

Introducing my new ETHIOPIA collection.



13 years of my life as a photographer is coming to the world as a fine art book and my genesis NFT drop.



What was it about Ethiopia that kept calling me back?

🧵 Thread My life will forever be intertwined with Ethiopia.

In my teenage days, this country is where I first found my vision as a photographer. Later, Ethiopia would be where I found my home & my soul mate.

This is the embodiment of everything that fueled me as an artist.

2008 vs 2020

New portrait work highlighting farmers around the world.

📸 Cotton farmer Matt Muller. Altus, Oklahoma, USA. Green onion farmer Tran Ngoc Phuong. Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

New work from Southern Ethiopia 📷

In a remote village, these naked men measuring their bellies are actually rivals in an annual competition. They have transformed their bodies into incredible shapes. This is a beauty pageant where all the contestants dream to be the fattest. During the competition, the body that is desired most is big, but also a rare combination of fat, thick, and firm. No where else in the world can you see this— the Kael Ceremony practiced by the Bodi Me’en tribe.

From my archives: Halloween in Brooklyn photographed 2010 - 2019.

📷 Celso Castro as "Captain America", 5:09pm October 31st, 2011 📷 Paige as “Donnie Darko”, 2:12am November 1st, 2014

A story of Chinese government censorship. ⚠️

My photography book WE CAME FROM FIRE: Kurdistan’s Armed Struggle Against ISIS is delayed once again. Here’s what the F is going on: After many stressful attempts and delays when creating perfect color match proofs (the physical prints used to match when running the press), crates of my book arrived from China on to US soil for us too look at.

Long before American support, & before the world knew their name, the Kurds of the YPG & YPJ fought ISIS & other extremist factions interlaced with the Syrian rebels.


The YPG/J believed from the beginning that the world would only learn their plight through their struggle. Years later, American air strikes, training & intelligence helped the YPG against ISIS. Everyone knew it was transactional and of mutual interest, but the main thing this powerful foreign backer gave was confidence to the society the Kurds sought to reform.