In my senior year of college, I was invited to direct a documentary about a unique and tragic subject: in 1957, a fire broke out in an elementary school in North Carolina. One student and one teacher died, while six more survived but were badly burned. These six survivors - the Flat Rock Six - wanted to tell their story. I saw this as an opportunity to learn about more than the tragedy, to try to understand how it feels and what it means to survive.

As an avid photographer, I’ve experimented with different film formats and cameras. When I discovered the square-shaped 6x6 aspect ratio, something clicked. You’re almost forced to center to the subject. It’s like a blunt, basic, forceful sentence. No fluff or purple prose. Just the viewer and the subject. SEE SQUARES HERE.

I’m constanly drawn to the idea that great, even revelatory insights can be hidden in plain sight. In an article about fishing lures. In the biography of a great film director. In a book review. So whenever I’m surfing through the randomness of the internet. watching an interview or reading an article, I like to snatch up the great insights and squirrel them away in this little blog that I call REAL COLLECTED WORDS.