Artist Statement

My practice explores addiction, recovery, identity and vulnerability through portraiture, documentary photography and conceptual self-portraiture. Drawing on my lived experience of addiction, homelessness and recovery, I examine the relationship between how people are seen and what they experience internally.

 

Photography first became a way of reconnecting with myself and the world around me. Over time, this personal process developed into a socially engaged practice grounded in conversation, collaboration and the experiences of people whose lives are often overlooked or reduced to stereotypes.

 

Through collaborative portraiture, I seek to challenge assumptions surrounding addiction and mental health while allowing space for each person’s individuality. Trust, empathy and participation shape my approach. My own experience informs these encounters, but I recognise that every person’s story is their own.

 

Alongside this work, I use conceptual imagery and self-portraiture to explore experiences that can be difficult to put into words. Light, shadow, movement and fragmentation become ways of expressing anxiety, isolation and emotional conflict.

 

In Chaos of Addiction, I developed a technique that creates the appearance of multiple exposures within a single continuous exposure. Through these fragmented self-portraits, I explore the psychological experience of addiction, giving visual form to internal struggles.

 

Across my practice, I return to questions of dignity, identity and the possibility of change. Recovery is part of my own story, and it continues to shape how I photograph, listen and connect with others. At the heart of my work is a belief rooted in lived experience: however difficult life becomes, change is possible.