Inkcandescent was born in a quiet reckoning—a whisper to myself that I still mattered. That beneath the busyness and the giving and the proving, there lived a woman with fire and story and soul. This project became my mirror, my medicine. In photographing others who’ve etched their journeys into their skin, I began reclaiming my own. Each tattoo, a living poem. Each session, a sacred exchange. Through their stories, I found pieces of mine—resilience, beauty, truth, and the audacity to take up space.

There’s something holy about bearing witness to someone’s ink—because it’s never just about the art. It’s about what it meant when they got it. Who they were becoming. What they were surviving. Inkcandescent lets me honor both the mark and the meaning. It’s portraiture with pulse and presence. A celebration of identity in full color. And through every frame, I’m reminded: we are all walking stories, worthy of being seen, worthy of being remembered, and above all, worthy of being lit from within.