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Lucy Purrington
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Dyslexia folds my words in a clumsy way, self portraiture photography offers me a more precise language of expression. It is a medium that I can use to externalise and transform my struggles with mental health into something tangible and relatable.
A lot of my self portraits include the natural landscapes around where I live in South Wales. Photography is a great excuse to go for a hike and scout out places. That’s an essential part of my process and it’s really good for my mental health and well-being. I’ve unknowingly built that element of adventure and exploration into my work and I’m always trying to find new locations and use what’s around me.
Then the pandemic and multiple lockdowns happened. My routines, as with everyone else’s, were impacted by this. Staying at home restrictions meant that I didn’t venture out, it wasn’t safe. This massively impacted everyone’s mental health.
When restrictions were eased, this image was created. Each figure is 2 metres apart. Each figure is one photograph of myself, shielded from view with a black cloak. I didn't really think about the relevance of that at the time. Stood in the mountain top landscape, I performed a routine of taking two large steps backwards away from the camera and pausing to press my remote control to capture an image.
I guess the 2 metre rule is ingrained in the subconscious.
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This is a black and white landscape photograph of a flat, barren grassy landscape which meets a clouded sky around halfway up the image. On both the right and left hand sides of the picture are ghostly figures in black stood facing the camera. They leave a gap of around 2 metres between them.
Behind these two figures are rows of other black cloaked figures that stand still, also facing the camera. These rows trail off into the distance and end where the landscape meets the sky. At the very end of the rows, they are mere black specs.
