I’m relatively new to blogging but it seems an ideal medium to combine my photography and writing.
Most of the recent blogs have been written in the first person – my own journey into the lives of a homeless man, teenage mum or undocumented migrant. It’s a style which people say is accessible but still highlights important social issues. I'd delighted the blogs have already won awards!
Life Without Papers 2012-13
My latest blog project tells the stories of undocumented migrant families and young people. Living under the radar with no official support and no recourse to public funds, this group is potentially the most vulnerable in the UK. My subjects include a 25-year-old Ghanaian mum who is risking imprisonment by working illegally so she can feed her five-year-old daughter; a stateless Kurdish man surviving on £12 per week, and a mother with four daughters, all of whom were undocumented for over five years.
www.lifewithoutpapers.co.uk
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Commissioned by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Unbound Philanthropy
Winner of a Speaking Together Media Award 2013
Shortlisted in the 'digital innovation' category of the Amnesty International Media Awards 2013
Her First Year 2011-12
Moss Side teenager Frances didn’t have a great childhood. Her home life was chaotic, she was well known to social services and didn’t get to school that often. Weeks after her 16th birthday she became pregnant. This blog, written by both Frances and I, tells the story of her first year as a mum, determined to give her daughter a different childhood to her own.
www.herfirstyear.co.uk (after 61 posts this blog has now finished)
Winner of Best Personal Blog in the Blog North Awards
Journey to The Edge 2012
In March 2012 a small community project in a South Devon fishing port commissioned me to spend a week documenting its innovative programme.
The community project – based at The Edge in Brixham – hoped the caring support it gives local young people and small community groups might be highlighted by an individualistic approach to story-telling.
www.journeytotheedge.org.uk (after 39 posts this blog has now finished)
Commissioned by Brixham YES