Conversations around race tend to be a topic that western society tend to stray away from. Progress or understanding cannot be achieved without an open dialogue. I strive to get these difficult conversations about race started through my use of photography. I mostly draw from my own personal experiences and those of my fellow black individuals. My work prior to my recent body of work had been non-alienating topics because I envisioned my photography to be an escape for others and me. But that changed at the beginning of this academic semester. I wanted to touch and speak about the countless experiences that people of the African Diaspora are presented with in predominately white or western societies in addition to lost identities.