I think my interest in fine art and drawing was what led me to discover photography after studying it in college when I left school. I instantly loved black and white film and learning about traditional darkroom techniques. I became fascinated with black and white photography and darkroom printing despite the fact that digital photography had very much taken over the industry.
I really love the process of shooting a roll of film, developing that film and then seeing it appear on paper in front of me in the darkroom. I was initially afraid to study photography at university because I’d heard how difficult it was to make a living from it. I actually studied a year of fine art and then Chinese medicine before finally realising photography was a subject I really was connected with, and therefore, I enrolled in the course at Middlesex quite late.

I’d say that the common theme in my work is having an interest in people and portraiture. I want to explore that with visual storytelling by looking at identity, anthropology, social and political issues with a sincere interest in a community. I’m drawn to stories that need a bit of clarity or those that teach people about something interesting or issues that need to be investigated in order to give voice to those who feel powerless.

The biggest problem with documentary photography is that it’s mostly chosen personal work. However, you can’t make a living from it solely. You have to have another job that provides you with an income. Documentary work is for those who have enough free time outside of work to pursue their stories or sacrifice parts of their life to focus on that. For me, it’s all about telling stories by absorbing the subject’s world in order to develop a level of trust. This can be very time consuming with some projects.

I can only speak about my own experiences as a documentary photographer. I am a very emotional person and I’m very open about that, so I tend to show a lot of empathy. I have a desire to relate to my subjects when I meet them. I like developing relationships with people in this way in order to learn about their lives. I always let them speak about what’s troubling them or I let them share a personal story about something that is very close to their heart.
For me, being a photographer is a way to study people and understand the world and its complexities. Sometimes. it’s really difficult to see people crying in front of me or tell me they want to die. In these moments, it is intensely sad. I think when you are in a situation that is highly intense, in a country you’ve never been to before, all of the senses are heightened. And my emotional connection to these subjects enhances my focus in order to direct my energy, to focus on the story more effectively.

I want my work to be authentic and I want it to show the world as it is. Next to that, for the people I photograph I want them to give a voice that will be heard. I would like to create work in the future that will develop over many years, unravelling different aspects of society trying to understand the way the world is changing and evolving.

Actually, this project was something that was quite spontaneous because I’d been working on some projects for my MA while I was in India. I began a new project with elderly people after my friend Siddhartha Krishna, a teacher of yoga philosophy in Rishikesh, made me aware of this serious issue after he’d seen children playing around elders who had died in the river. I wanted to investigate the way that these elders had been abused and abandoned by their younger generations and why this was occurring there. During my research, I heard about Malana and its story sounded very fascinating because these tribes are one of the oldest democracies in India and didn’t like outsiders to touch them or the temple walls.
One of the people working with me on my project knew one of the Malanese people, so we were able to go there safely and explore the village. Historically, even Michael Palin was denied access when he tried to film there decades ago. Some things are definitely changing and they did allow visitors when I came to visit them. Although since then, they have declared that the Jamadagni (the god living in the temple) will no longer allow visitors to stay overnight. There were little preparation and research findable beforehand, and I heard differing facts about this village. Therefore, I wanted to find out myself about this festival by talking to people face to face.

It did, considering that I did face quite some challenges. I think that if I could have stayed longer, I could have gotten to know more people on a more intimate level, diving deeper into their way of living. One of the biggest issues I had to deal with along the way was that one time the festival event didn’t turn out be that great. This because the people living there (primarily men) accused me of touching a wall. There had been a lot of drinking and the group of men surrounded me. I tried to defend my case, but at the end, we avoided the conflict as we left the situation by going back to our guest house, which was located at the very top of the mountain. At that point, I knew it was time to go.

Photography is for me a reason to explore the world, travel, and delve into subjects that interest me personally.

The project has evolved in many different ways over the years because, as time went by, I started to understand it in a more complex way. Certainly, other people’s feedback and opinions about the work have been extremely interesting to me because they just simply see it in different ways. I gained confidence in sharing my work with the audience because I respected my tutors on the course who gave me honest feedback. They not only gave me the will to continue but they also taught me to have faith in myself at a time when I didn’t even know who ‘I’ was anymore. The support I received from the photography department at the Middlesex University was simply outstanding, and without that course, I’m not sure if I would have continued the project.

I have a deep gratitude for life when I look back at Reality Trauma. I don’t see my experience with cancer with a lot of negative thoughts because it deepened my connection with myself and my respect for life even more. I feel that if my work can inspire others to have hope or faith and the will and strength to keep going through whatever they are dealing with, whether it’s an illness or something else, then I think of it as a positive project instead. Ultimately, I think being able to face the truth about cancer and creating awareness and willingness to surrender to it all really helps to ease difficult times.

The recognition is always helpful for a documentary photographer and I’m always glad to see my work shown through such platforms. It’s incredibly exciting. I have had a lot of positive feedback about the work, and it’s definitely a confidence booster. Especially because it does change the way I perceive the work, which eventually inspires me to get out and do more work.

I recently finished work where I captured my younger brother, who was also diagnosed with the same cancer I had. In addition to that, I am currently doing some freelance-based commercial work in London. I’m shooting for ABinBev, a campaign for a cancer charity, and an online photography feature for the BBC about Reality Trauma.