portrait of britain shortlist volume 7
I'm delighted to share that my portrait of Sarah-Jane has been shortlisted for Portrait of Britain, The British Journal of Photography’s annual competition celebrating the diversity and resilience of the UK.
The portrait forms part of ‘LGBTQ+ gynae stories’, a socially engaged project I’m now working on with the Wellcome Collection. Sarah-Jane will be one of 200 portraits in the seventh edition of the Portrait of Britain book (published by Bluecoat Press and sponsored by JC Decaux UK).
100 winners will be announced in January 2025. The winning photographs will go on display on JCDecaux digital advertising screens located across the country.
Thanks to all the judges for believing in this work:
Mick Moore - CEO and creative director of British Journal of Photography
Tom Booth Woodger - Publisher, Bluecoat Press
Caroline Hunter - Picture Editor, The Guardian
Jermaine Francis - Photographer and Curator
Ashleigh Kane - Editor, Dazed
Deirdre Robb - Director, Belfast Exposed
Siân Davey - Photographer
Louise Pearson - Curator, National Galleries of Scotland
Sarah-Jane told me: “It took a doctor that looked like me to listen. She was the first doctor in two years to physically examine me, and as soon as she did, she could feel my tumour. Six hours later after an emergency CT scan I was told that they had found a 4kg mass measuring 20cm x 20cm x 19cm which was filling my abdomen, crushing other organs, causing damage to my bowel and pushing up into my diaphragm - reducing my lung capacity and ability to breathe. Medical weight stigma allowed my cancer to grow unchecked, many others are medically gaslit and told that we don’t know what’s happening to our bodies or the pain we are experiencing is considered a ‘normal’ part of ‘womanhood’, leaving our symptoms to go unheard, untested and untreated until it’s too late.”
