yes is the only living thing is a series of 76 images looking at moments of celebration, wonder, and stillness in my own life. Shot the year following a friend’s sudden cancer relapse and near-immediate death, the images echo my attempts to infuse my own life with some of the same determination, thoughtfulness, and grace that was ever-present in her life. As a result, I experienced life more deliberately, and thus, changed the narrative for that year. The series was captured with recently-discontinued peel apart instant film on a fickle hand-me-down Polaroid Reporter camera. I was attracted to the unpredictability of both the film and the camera and how this seemed to echo the unpredictability of life, itself. . yes is the only living thing artist book perfect bound with hand-embossed cover 5.75″ x 8″ / 150 pages, 76 color images First edition: 200 copies, 2019 ISBN-13: 978-0-9847509-0-0 photographs: Alexandra Silverthorne text: Julie Poitras Santos conversation: Annie Mahon editor: Anna Rutenbeck printed by Edition One Books (Berkeley, CA) cover embossed by Michel Droge at Pickwick Independent Press (Portland, ME) .