At the age of 7, I became a Texan. A title I was slow to accept — I didn’t fit the stereotype in my head. It wasn’t until I moved away for college that I realized being a Texan is so much more than saying “y’all” and wearing cowboy boots. It’s about the appreciation for the place and people. The “moo cows” on the pasture by my childhood home where I would stop by with my bulldog, Gunny, to say “Hello.”

Over the past year, I have slowly begun to photograph parts of the state that I hold with me even while I am in D.C. Exploring my hometown and seeing it from a perspective that I didn’t have while growing up in Texas, I found a new sense of appreciation for the people, agriculture, landscape and small details that I overlooked time and time again. This rang true for me each time I visited back home, and an old plot of the beautiful landscape had been replaced with an office building or a grocery store.

A newborn calf makes eye contact with me at the pasture near my childhood home.

Ropes abandoned in the woods. Exploring has become a huge part of my time when I am home from college — trying to find new parts of my hometown and learn more about where I grew up.

The longhorn, along with the other cows, at the pasture near my home. The longhorn has lived in the pasture since I moved to Texas.

The kitchen window of the Stone House we visited while in Boerne. A lot of memories have been made in this kitchen. In the morning, I would look at this window and admire the light.

(Karsyn Meyerson)

A portrait of my younger brother, Kam. Leaving home to go to college in a different state has made me further appreciate the time I have with Kam.

(Karsyn Meyerson)

Portrait of my “younger brother,” Nick. He is not blood related but is my younger brother in every way that counts. Him and Kam have been best friends since kindergarten, and since then, I have become his “older sister.”

Every Sunday I have lunch with my grandfather at La Madeline in Allen, Texas. This particular day he wanted to show me his new cowboy hat.