This work examines the personal contradictions that arise between our human need to be seen, acknowledged and affirmed, and the conflicting fear of exposure and judgement.

In a culture saturated with new and ever more widespread forms of self-expression we all face challenges with how and where we might find a point of equilibrium between our public and private selves.

My own search for this balancing point is complicated by my work as a visual artist and the conflict between my need for affirmation and my fear of rejection. Exposure can be a terrifying goal. Even if you successfully manage to separate your sense of self-worth from your work (and good luck with that) making a real connection with any audience requires vulnerability, and vulnerability is risk.

With this series I wanted to directly tackle some of the emotionally uncomfortable places my work puts me. I wanted to make images that explore some of the tensions between extroversion and introversion that seem to be amplified by recent cultural-technical developments and ask some questions about how those tensions might be changing us. Above all I wanted to see if I could challenge myself to face the fear of exposure and find my own point of equilibrium.

All the images in the series are made in various locations in Cornwall at dusk or during the night. The process of working on my own, relying only on in-camera effects, became it’s own form of meditation on exposure and risk.