We don’t always know the source of what stirs deepest within us. Some fears are not our own. Some longings arrived before we did. A lineage is not just the past — it is a living tree from which we grow. In every smallest cell, we carry the traces of those who came before. The past can chafe. But without the unspoken sorrows and unrealized dreams that awoke within us — we would not be who we are today. Perhaps it was always meant to be this way. So we could become ourselves. So we could bring closure to what once remained unfinished. Heal what has cried out for healing across generations. And feel gratitude — for life. For the journey. For the endlessness of our being. “Roots” is more than a photographic project. It is an encounter. With the self. With the past. With a power born not only of individuality — but of what is shared. With those who came before us and remain — within us. With all my heart, I thank the Beings who shared this extraordinary meeting with the past alongside me. The inspiration for these photographs came from my personal search for my own roots, as well as from observing a pine tree that, despite the earth being removed from around its roots, endured. For me, it is a symbol of strength, resilience, and the relentless persistence of life.