TR: When did you start taking photos?

SB: I started taking photographs in earnest when I was in middle school. I was a pre-teen in the Rookie Mag, Tumblr girl, American Apparel era, so I spent a lot of time with friends trying to recreate and be part of that. We had so many fun photoshoots running around the West Village, trying to achieve the grunge girl who listens to Alt-J and wears knee-high socks with Doc Marten's image.

TR: What does collaboration mean to you?

SB: The heart of my work is collaboration! I think I use art as a tool for connecting with others as much as I use it as a tool for self-examination. It's a cliche but every portrait is a collaboration between artist and subject, and I've always gravitated towards portraiture because I find other humans fascinating. I relish the opportunity to talk to others about their lives, experiences, trials and tribulations, and I see it as a privilege that someone else trusts me with their likeness. Recently I've been heavily involved in film from an acting and production standpoint. By nature, film relies on teamwork, and I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by extraordinary creatives. There is nothing more unifying than working together towards a common goal and art that allows me to do that with others is what I find most nourishing.

TR: You work in a couple different mediums, what would be your favorite? And would you ever mix them?

SB: Oooh, this is a great question. I see myself at the moment as a sort of toddler in terms of the art I make. I have a lot I want to say and a lot of emotions I want to process but have yet to figure out how best to do it. Different mediums fill different spaces in my life so it's hard to pick a favorite. Photographic phases tend to coincide with times in my life that are more reserved, where I consciously want the attention to be on someone other than myself. Painting invites more solitude and quiet reflection. Acting, more conscious self-exploration. I've been trying to write a script but I'm a terribly visual person so it is taking quite a while. I'm not necessarily opposed to mixing them; they all influence each other, but I tend to get hyperfocused on one at a time.

TR: If you could describe your creative process with one word, what would it be?

SB: Mercurial.

TR: What is the last book you read or film you saw that inspired you?

SB: I watched it over quarantine, so this may be cheating, but Portrait of A Lady on Fire changed my life in more ways than one. I've always loved late eighteenth-century female portraiture - the soft colors, the delicate femininity - and to see that captured on film scratched a huge itch in my brain. I became totally obsessed with that movie. I've probably seen it ten times since. Everything in that film is so specific and beautiful; I aspire to make art as moving and truthful as that. I would give anything to work with Céline Sciamma and Claire Mathon. They're true geniuses.