Lens and Letters is a journal of stories in black and white — with a splash of color.

This crazy idea started in January of 2014 when I bought my first camera – a Fujifilm x100 – because I thought it was so cool and that I needed something to do outside of work. Yes, it’s semi the same old story of a new year and a new hobby, and that was what I thought until I realized that what I was looking for was a creative outlet for grief.

My stepdad passed away in 2013 due to cancer, and because of the circumstances of needing to “keep things together,” I dove right into work – work at work and work at home. The process of grieving and letting go was not forgotten, but was just put in the back burner because there was always something else that needed our attention.

Needless to say, it came to a point where I needed to let it out, yet I didn’t want to always be sad. It was unfair to Dad, unfair to me and unfair to the universe. I wanted to celebrate life because I saw its beauty not only in the little things that make the world amazing, but also in the pain that makes you appreciate it even more, so much more.

And so I started taking photos – just playing around with the camera and clicking non-stop. Later on I realized that I preferred taking photos in black and white. It just seemed that the sight from the viewfinder just always made more sense when it was in hues of white, gray and black. And it was always because I had a story for it.

So it goes. Two years of traveling, a hundred photos and a hundred stories behind the viewfinder – celebrating storytelling in hues of white, gray and black. And maybe a splash of color in between.

What’s your favorite story?