Growing up in Northern Norway: for many months of the year we have very little light, whilst for a few months, we have the opposite, which meant that I grew up aware of the significant changes caused by variations in light. As a consequence of these annual fluctuations, “light” became a meaningful factor in my photography practice. In addition, I became interested in the body and nudes after a book project in my second year of studying fashion photography in Oslo, where I put female models in the role of animals in the forest. While those photographs are rooted in commercial photography, it was the first time I used my subconscious artistic influence in a photoshoot. Studying Fine Art has made me look at photography beyond the commercial style i had been used to. It has since made me more conscious about my thoughts, ideas, opinions and how to convey them through my work.

 

When I started my BA at The Cass I had never practiced Fine Art photography before, and I initially found it very difficult to break the rules that fashion photography had taught me, and difficult to make photographs without a brief. It became very much a self-discovery process in finding my own “style” and I think I'm still in the process of finding it. I looked at light, body and nature and how we carry our origins with us to the places we go and this becomes a part of who we are. I subsequently decided to go deeper in my MA and use photography as a therapeutic tool.

 

In my project Bare I've combined my interest in light and the human body to explore a more internal psychological world. The pieces I've made reflect a challenging time in my life. I've used a “bare” model to portray my inner emotions at that time. I've chosen to use the word “bare” instead of nude or naked as being “bare” means more than not having clothes on. When you're “bare” you don't have anything to shield you, you are showing yourself as vulnerable and fragile.

 

In my last year in Oslo I had a lot of things happen which left me burnt out and physically and mentally ill. I didn’t feel in control of my body. I was dizzy twenty-four seven for nearly a year. I would often have respiratory difficulties, as if my lungs had forgotten how to breathe on their own, I had to consciously make them inhale, which made it difficult going to sleep. Not being in control of your own body makes you very vulnerable and sensitive, it's like wearing your nerves on your skin. It felt as if my soul was trying to break out of my body.

 

Being mentally ill or burnt out is still a very taboo subject, we see it as shameful. You always have to give 100%, be the best, get the best grades, earn lots of money, work out and have a good social life, which is impossible at the best of times. The youth of today is under huge pressure to be the best at everything and if they fall out of the equation, if they can't reach their impossible goals society has set, it can lead to depression, anxiety, burnt out kids, and even suicide. In 2013 in the UK there were 977 people who committed suicide, aged between 15-29.

 

With this work and installation, I hope it will make people stop and reflect about themselves and what state their inner psychological world is in. For me the process of taking these photos has helped me reconnect with myself and my emotions, as I faced them again I was able to confront them in a new way and release them. I think we all carry a lot of emotional garbage, which we could do without, and which often prevents us fro m moving forward; this project represents an attempt to explore our inner, emotional lives, often hidden even from ourselves, and reconnect these internal worlds with our visible, physical body.