No Longer Human

This project focused on the exploration of personal faith in a higher power and the sense of alienation from humanity following experiences of sexual trauma. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences and Osamu Dazai’s book, “No Longer Human”, the project aimed to map the journey towards self-realisation and spiritual connection using a combination of analogue and digital techniques.

Informed by the work of Bessel van der Kolk, a psychiatrist and researcher in post-traumatic stress, the project acknowledged the chronic feelings of internal discomfort and disconnection experienced by trauma survivors. A key component of the project was the creation of images that depicted the journey of overcoming the divide between self and society through a connection to nature. This was visually represented through vivid, saturated images of vast landscapes captured on medium format film, a choice influenced by Richard Mosse’s “Infra: Photographs”.

The slow and laborious process of medium format photography was deliberately chosen to symbolise the challenging journey of recovery from trauma. The end goal of the project was to produce large-scale photographs that harmoniously captured the conflicting emotions and the disorienting experience of re-centring oneself after trauma.