We think of "life" as vibrant and robust, and yet in some ways it is such a fragile thing, only a silken thread connecting us to existence. When it comes to death, we avert our eyes and hush our voices. We do our best to ignore even the smallest of tragedies around us—the final fluttering of a butterfly on the sidewalk, the neglected corner of a garage, the limp, silvery corpse of a fish—so that we never have to feel their loss. Upon deeper scrutiny, the unlikeliest of creatures has its own inherent beauty, even at its moment of death. For this series, I look more closely at death as a calm and ordinary part of every day, revealing its exquisite, heartbreaking beauty.

• Images from Fragile Thread have appeared at the CordenPotts Gallery, Berkeley Arts Center, Rayko Photography Center, and the Texas Photographic Society.
• All images in the series are available as limited-edition platinum/palladium prints.