Portraits of Adventure: Where It Stands

I started Portraits of Adventure in 2023 with a simple premise -- that the people who spend their lives in outdoor spaces have stories worth documenting. Not elite athletes. Not sponsored adventurers. Just people whose relationship with the outdoors has quietly shaped who they are.

Megan

The very first portrait and story I captured for a project that hadn’t been named yet. | Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Two years and 50+ subjects later, I'm still figuring out what the project is. That feels important to say.

There's an unspoken hierarchy in outdoor culture. The people who've been backpacking since childhood. The ones who grew up on trails, in kayaks, on rock faces. And then everyone else, standing at the edge of it, wondering if they belong. Part of what I'm trying to do with this project is push back on that. Nobody is behind. Nobody is late. The outdoors doesn't rank you for it -- but the culture around it sometimes does.

What I keep running into is that people don't always see themselves as someone with a story worth telling. I'm still learning how to ask the right questions. How to create enough space in a conversation that the real thing surfaces. Some sessions I get it. Some I don't. That gap is part of the work.

Rana

The first portrait of the project captured outside of Ohio during an unaffiliated trip I had the opportunity to make her portrait and learn her story.

The project is rooted in Northeast Ohio -- Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Summit and Portage counties, the trail systems and rivers that make this region quietly extraordinary. But it's slowly reaching further. Florida. California. Minnesota. Pennsylvania. And this October, Zion National Park in Utah. Not a national project yet. Just a project that follows the stories when they show up.

The goal by end of year is 80 subjects. More than the number, I want to make sure I'm finding the rich stories -- the ones that take a minute to get to, the ones people haven't thought to tell yet.

Richard

The Buckeye Trail Association was the first organization to approach me about collaborating on a project. Newer to Ohio, I got to experience all 10 sections of the over 14,000 mile trail, learn about it’s history, and the people who help maintain and protect it.

If you or someone you know has a relationship with the outdoors worth documenting -- whatever that looks like, whatever stage of life -- I'd like to hear about it.

Portraits of Adventure is ongoing. Based in Northeast Ohio. Shooting wherever the stories are.