"Eden" series 

“One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever.” – Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden.

Eden consists of a series of portraits taken throughout Australia. The series originates from an obsessive curiosity into the transitory stage of youth and a human relationship with nature.

In each headshot the subject, (a young person on the cusp of adulthood), is placed unclothed in a naturalistic setting and stares blankly at the camera. With no evidence of the subjects’ context (apart from tattoos or piercings) the images focus on the sincere and almost romantic beauty of the youth. The subjects’ gaze, although neutral, can be viewed as a response to the tension between photographer and subject and also the experience of vulnerability caused by being unclothed.

By referencing the biblical Garden of Eden, and by placing young people in edenic backgrounds, I am depicting youth as a time of purity and innocence, an unspoiled paradise. The images are taken with a protective tenderness and present themselves as an almost personal insight into the subject, however the composition of the photographs and the subjects’ lack of expression, leave the viewer to observe curiously from the outside looking in, and to lament upon the sanctity of human life.

"Inside is out, outside is in" series"

 For this series I have taken portraits in the beds of men on the cusp of adulthood, ranging in age from eighteen to twenty-eight.

The series aims to explore the loss of innocence through practical contact with adult life, with is evident in the changing physical characteristics present during the transitory age of young manhood.

The subjects' body language and gaze is a reaction to the intrusion created by a female photographer in the subjects' very personal space, and also a demonstration of the initial naivety in adolescence through to the maturity and convictions evident in adulthood.

The presentation of the approximately life-size prints pinned to the wall, displayed in order of age, gives viewers the opportunity to share the intimate space of the subjects and to witness the transition into adulthood.

 "Everlasting Love" series:

 Everlasting love is a new series of portrait, still life and landscape photographs that is dedicated to the fleeting moments of youthful beauty, indeterminate bright futures and romantic expectations.

In the still life photographs surrounding the youthful subjects there is a photograph taken in a small room that captures sunlight seeping through an intricately detailed lace curtain, with lightness, shadow and eventually darkness exposed in the image. To the other side there is a natural lit still life of wildflowers in a vase. The wildflowers are all in various stages of blooming and wilting and although the bottom of their stems are placed together in the vase, each flower reaches out in a different direction as if they are all searching for the sun they rely on to grow and to live. Some are yet to bloom while others are drying out and their stems are limp and lifeless.

In one portrait there is a young man posed on a white bed, laying languidly with his head lent against the palm of one hand while he, with eyes closed, soaks up the sun coming in from the window. The soft white light highlights the beauty of the young man and puts a gentle contrast on the detailed creases of the bed. He is portrayed as the beautiful boy, the centre of the universe. The photograph gives the subject the gift of eternal youth and beauty.

The sequence of ephemeral photographs shows life and death, lightness and darkness, and beauty and the sublime, giving the viewer a bittersweet picture of the fragility of life and inevitable death.