A few years before I turned 30 I began photographically documenting the changes that have been occurring at the family farms where I grew up. And then, like many people who’ve turned 30, I had a small existential crisis. I wasn’t afraid to get older, but came to the sudden realization that life around me was drastically changing and I was no longer part of the world that had raised me. Every time I visited a farm to photograph, I cried. At the time I didn’t know why, but now I see I was saying goodbye. The project culminated with the burning of my childhood home as a donation to the local fire department – it became the definitive moment of the series. In a surprising way, my goodbyes have propelled me forward into life with a freedom to be who I am rather than who I thought I was supposed to be.