In 2018, I endured a long bus commute to a lonely office park and a tiny cubicle for an entry-level design job. The pay was embarrassing, so I got good at sneaking on the bus without a pass, telling myself I was just living in my first act. I wanted to quit after a week but stayed for exactly one year. The only perk: after-work drinks and pool at a dive bar attached to a Chinese restaurant, where the company kept an unlimited open tab.

I felt my focus drifting, so I started documenting my commute and work friends on disposable cameras. That year taught me a stubborn type of creativity—how to make with what you have, where you are, right now.