Here, I was seen.

From idea to making Plashet One Hundred a reality, this experience has moved me, endlessly. The power of being seen was found in every corner of this special place and evident in all those who once walked through its corridors, as I gathered each story this year.

This project set out to shine a light on one hundred individuals from the school’s past and present, and yet, what was felt in this iconic hall that opening night was beyond words.

As I begin to carve out the second phase of this project, what remains dear, is each one of the hundred women who sat opposite, willing to be seen and, how they did the same for me.

The kid from East London...

Is this a dream?

Have I really just pasted the portraits of the first one hundred individuals who helped make this idea a reality, onto a billboard?

Has that kid from East London really managed to pull this off?

This is a dream, right?

Dereham Place, EC2, has become the place where the dream I had as a kid became a reality. The one I had imagined where my photographs would appear on the streets of London, and maybe even beyond. To create something and bring that very thing into existence has been all I’ve ever tried to do, repeatedly.

The year 2022 will now forever remain in my heart. This magical year has given me more than I could put into words and offered my life, my work and my heart such beautiful abundance.

As story 171 read, ‘to create is to exist’, and I have never felt so close to existing wholly before.

Gratefully, seen.

The month of November.

As I enter the month in the year that will now forever hold such meaning, emotion and change, I also edge closer to completing the first year of Seen the Stories.

I wanted, needed to in fact, create a vehicle through which I could search for something more. A chance to witness life in all its varieties. To see if I could be more.

I wanted to hear stories, listen to the inner makings of people’s hearts and minds, to hold those shared moments in time, close.

I wanted to see beyond my everyday vista.

To feel that the month that took so much, in one year, or ten, would become the month I owe everything to.

Life is always here, right now, and maybe in another year, here might be….

Connections.

I have been reminded repeatedly of the importance and power of human connection. Whether it has been with a coffee in hand, sat facing a screen and a smiling face looking back at me as we plan their SEEN moment. Or with camera in hand, maintaining the now ever so familiar distance, the cold air filling the space between us, such connections shared stay with me for the days that follow.

The process of creating this visual documentation of hundreds (and I hope hundreds more) people continues to broaden my understanding of life. How it is lived. How it is experienced. How we navigate our way through it. How we stop, take stock, change paths and carry on. How there are so many answers and many, many more questions.

The dream is to take this idea, my camera and that ever-trusted satchel to different parts of the world.

Seen:All I Can.

That would make for a great next phase of my life.

Right now.

At the moment I am;

• on the final stages of SEEN:One Hundred Chapter Two and this will be live by early March

• developing the first five SEEN:Themes

• excitedly organising SEEN:Two Hundred Chapter One, through those I have found and all those that I have been connected with by my first one hundred!

• creating the next Headlines photo series

Whether it is lockdown 3.0 or not, the need for connection, to be seen, heard and communicate, is just so vital. My interest in this creative means to witness the many ways in which life is lived, continues to fuel me and this project.

Leap of faith, now 2021, continues to go strong!

This year.

To see and listen to another has always rung true for me. Now by taking this leap of faith, starting this creative path and SEEN THE STORIES, more is possible.

I hope to witness each of my first hundred see themselves reflected through my photography and words. This reflection for me has been powerful to experience, magical even. To interact, connect and have conversation holds such meaning for me.

To witness the many ways to navigate your way through life, the endless possibilities, is truly freeing.

LIFE is here, right now, as I launch SEEN THE STORIES on Tuesday 24th November 2020.