For five years, served as a youth minister for an evangelical organisation with chapters at secular colleges across the country, spreading the teachings of the Bible and encouraging young believers in their faith. A missionary gave a 35mm camera as a gift, and pictures began to be taken of family and the wider religious community; these are now recognised as a first artistic body of work, though at the time there was no plan for them beyond personal enjoyment. Examining the project today, one sees longings and struggles hidden beneath the serene surface of rural life, overseas missions and religious canvassing on the beaches during spring break. Throughout this period, the model believer image was maintained outwardly, praying, reading scripture, attending services, but a secret could not be admitted to others, nor to oneself, until resignation from the organisation, coming out, and a move to a new city allowed the interest in the medium to be pursued directly and a life to be reevaluated outside the close-knit community once called home. In many ways this documents a culture and moment that has vanished from the landscape: a unique and honest five-year examination of a closeted and religious young life.