Ever Forward, Back explores the gradual loss of my father to neurological diseases. My father has multiple health conditions which have advanced to create dementia-like symptoms. His mobility has been hampered for all of my lifetime, but it is only in the past five years that his mental faculties have been markedly affected. Through the use of repetition and fragmentation, my photographs and writing aim to disrupt the viewer’s experience and force a heightened connection within the work. Quiet observations of daily life are recorded though writing and the photographs. Written passages and photographs reverberate off each other, neither taking prominence in the presentation of the work. I aim to explore and better understand the shifts between the roles of son, carer and creator. This work is about a journey to coping, accepting the inevitable mortality of a loved one, and the fading of their persona.
Awardee for The Photographer's Gallery 2021 New Talent Award.
