My exhibition centres literally around Brighton’s common where a Psychiatric Hospital, now abandoned, sits next to the old workhouse, which is now Brighton General Hospital. The series evolves from these purely personal reminiscences into more fictional stories, all with mental health in mind.

Not every eye is wide open. Look into the faces of those on prescription drugs. Containment, despite fissure and lightning inside. I wish to encourage us to think differently about mental illness and sedation, strengthening the bonds between and embracing neurodiversity, allowing as a result to think differently.

I end with a poem ‘The Bethlehem Tax’, formulated during an admission to Mill View Psychiatric Hospital, a poem illustrating how some people had major issues adjusting to the industrial age and even the politics of the day.

The poem’s title comes from Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London; this institution was originally located in the Priory of St Mary of Bethlehem in the City of London. This old institution became known as Bedlam.

I’m a photographer and artist based in Brighton and have completed an MA in Photography at the University of Brighton. As someone diagnosed as bipolar I have an interest in photography as a form of therapy.

Exhibitions:

Brighton Photo Fringe 2020 'Like an Iris' Iris Photography Collective, online and Dukes Lanes pop up 23, Brighton, Autumn 2020.
Exhibition with Iris Photography Collective 'In a Silent Way', Regency Town House, Brunswick Sq Hove, September 2021.
Royal Photographic Society International Photography Exhibition 163 Bristol 'Family Seat’, Summer 2022.
Brighton Photo Fringe 2022 ‘Family Seat’ chosen as part of a curated trial.