Double trouble

28th October 2016

Time is evaporating. My to do list of to do lists grows and I’m treading the London tide. I’ll make this a bumper post to excuse my silence over these past two Thursdays.
The first image is from a shoot for the guardian weekend.

“Sometimes we wake up and we’ve had the same dream” Xanthe exclaims, eyes wide as she chomps on a Satsuma.

Yazmyne nods energetically adding: ” We are mono-mono, which means we were nearly stuck together in the womb.

Even if you’re not a fan of kids, these two will melt your heart. They are creative, curious and above all totally in love with being twins.  As per usual working with young people opens the shoot up to a release of creative control. My job was to observe their constant stream of creative play; like Tom & Jerry they chased each other around the sun bathed field. Every object became a tool in their game and the magic they created was inspiring and nostalgic. Despite the frantic energy when they stood still they engaged and connected intensely.

I love my sister more than words can express but the thought of being a twin always make me squirm. I find it confusing enough dissecting my own identity and evolving let alone trying to do that alongside a duplicate. Most of the twins I met found safety in their similarities it seemed to provide a feeling of an unmatchable and protective bond.

The next image is a new piece from the work on show at Francessca Maffeo gallery. Dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s took patience, caffeine and tenacity but with the support of many a kind folk around us we finally raised a glass at the opening last Friday. It was such a touching and memorable evening. The support was overwhelming and seeing the work displayed beautifully felt like an exciting motivation to continue towards the next chapter. Luckily for me Andrei was on hand a few weeks leading up to the show and we have spent the past few months really unravelling the meaning of my quest.  I felt the titles needed to be finalised with quotes from the tale so we kept this in mind when shooting recently.

I have included this image, as what struck me was how it fell so effortlessly into the project. As we saw the scene I thought instantly of the two contrasting forests in the narrative. One is ruined and one growing new. However upon titling the piece a much more fitting quote married the scene:

“And all’f a sudden the whole forest began to move”

Titles and quotes should never define a photograph but even the process of titling an image can be a helpful exercise to reflect on what drew you to create, notice and capture the moment in front of you the way you did.

Thanks to everyone who has continued to support me on this wonderful adventure oao x