A valet who won’t take smokes, but hands out life advice.

Caught Kurtis mid-reel on the way to work. Different energy, different style. Asked if I could shoot. He said yes.

A conversation about identity, how we show up online, and what I’m actually trying to build through Merak.

Merak lives in the little stuff — a coffee run, a dumb joke about clothes, the way the market feels on a Sunday. That’s where the stories hide, and that’s what I want to catch.

Merak begins at home — in the kitchen with Zia. Food, family, and stories passed down, cooked with heart and captured raw.