Most comfortable in high contrast.

High contrast started out as a realization about the way I live, and then it became the way I see.

I'm Misha, based in New York City. Alongside photography I have spent 10+ years as a designer—deep in product strategy and hands-on lead roles. I enjoyed the work, but I felt disconnected from the artistic side of myself, and quietly from the people around me.

I picked up a camera to get that back. Photography lets me make something purely for myself, the way design never quite did — and it gives me a reason to introduce myself to strangers and—on occasion—to still be out when the storm hits.

My everyday life is a little less "high contrast" than when that phrase first stuck, but the instinct hasn't changed. I'm still drawn to the dramatic moments, still testing whether I can turn an ordinary one into a frame worth keeping.

The people who shaped how I see—my sister Jasmine: one of the best portrait photographers I know, Scott: a world class cinematographer who gifted me my first film camera, and all of my friends who have joined me in traveling the world.