I received this Press Release this week: “Now in its fourth year, the Portrait of Humanity recognises remarkable portraits that capture the moments that make us what we are. Today, we are proud to announce the 200 shortlisted photographs of Portrait of Humanity Volume 4.
A striking mix of the contemporary and the timeless is made manifest in these portraits speaking to a life lived in 2021. A lingering pandemic, ongoing human confrontation with an ever-increasing climate crisis, and a changing sociopolitical landscape are just some of the themes overarching core moments so intrinsically linked to those things that make us human – love and adoration, new life, deep connections and final farewells.”
I’m deeply humbled and honoured to have an image that represents this time in history in the collection of shortlisted images – an image that somehow sums up some of the deep feelings of the ongoing life in limbo that covid has thrown our family into. A life of never being quite fully in one place because there’s a part of our lives in another place. Of packing and moving, and settling, then repeating.
I’m so aware that my work isn’t validated by awards and recognition, and mostly I just enter for fun, but this one feels different. It’s an image that summed up the end of 2020 in a visceral way. A year that had been scarred by unsettling vortexes of unsettled emotion and unsettled life, on multiple different levels. It’s an image that at surface level is easy to interpret, yet there are layers deep beyond it that will remain with me forever. The intense feeling of wanting to wrap my child (both my children in reality) up in layers and layers to protect her against all that was swirling around her, to prepare her for the unknown that we were going to, and yet being aware that I was stepping into a void too. It hits me hard in the chest when I see this image, and I’m grateful that my lovely girl allowed me to share it on instagram, and to enter it. And I’m both grateful and proud that others have seen there is depth and emotion within too.
The images will be published in a book, published by Hoxton Mini Press and I can’t wait to see it. https://www.thebjpshop.com/product/portrait-of-humanity-vol-4-book/
Explore the full shortlist here: https://www.1854.photography/awards/portrait-of-humanity/winners2022/#winners