Traumas, as we know now, can devastate our psyche well beyond the initial event. They are deeply embedded into memory and can manifest—or get triggered—when we least expect it. For my thesis project during my last year at Syracuse University, I built an index of triggers from individuals who have experienced sexual assault and/or rape. Too many of us suffer in silence. 

In “The Smell of His Cologne,” I collected, documented, and photographed over 150 mundane and everyday objects, places, and sounds that can reactivate festering traumas. These triggers are unremarkable to the point of invisibility to most. Yet, their very banality suggests the normalization of violence against women. At first, there is a visual fascination that draws the viewer in, only to reveal something much more unsettling.