To Snare the Sun

I was raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a town that was secretly formed and constructed in 1942 as part of the Manhattan Project. Growing up queer in East Tennessee, I became highly aware of an unchecked masculinity embodied through contact sports, rugged individualism, Southern family values, and the legacy of the atomic bomb. These elements of my town's culture were relentlessly focused on projecting strength, yet it was this very emphasis that made those who fell outside of that expectation feel weak. To Snare the Sun is a series of color photographs that explore the creation of the atomic bomb as a stand-in for American masculinity and hubris in my hometown. Oak Ridge was built to achieve a militaristic goal. I want to know what it means to live in the shadow of that creation and navigate the legacy it left behind.