What does it mean to be dressed? Is the overarching question for my critical journal, it’s one that’s coherently linked to my studio practice and in the realm of what I explore through my work: clothing, community and what’s the role of photography within that? I am interested in ethnography, societies, cultures and social studies of fashion. I try to use these themes to underpin the context of my work and base it in a social anthropological context. The street is my studio, I use the outdoors and sometimes the indoors. Historical adornment is also explored in one of my projects this year. I provided alternative perspectives to traditionally villainized women in Scottish Folklore. The work presented is in a triptych series, invoking feelings of freedom, power and beauty, when these women have been represented in an inherently patriarchal society. My next project ‘To Be Adorned’ delves into the meaning behind our clothes, where the subjects have sourced their clothing from, and what oral histories and testimonies can be learnt behind these ensembles. Narrative image making is how I articulate my thoughts and feelings about the world I inhabit. I would also argue they are a concentrated, systematic type of enquiry into photographic social anthropology. Additionally, a tool for analysing, albeit one that’s playful and pleasurable.
