My first apartment was in Santa Monica, California, a few blocks from the ocean. It was a run down row of eight shacks, refurbished and rented out, not so cheaply, but not so expensive either. It suited me at the time, with a mix of eclectic neighbors who were probably just as uncertain about what to do with their lives. I used a vintage Yashica twin reflex film camera to capture the emotion and mental freedom of living away from home in my first apartment. The series aimed to capture the rawness of living real life with all its smudges and blurrs and leaking light.