I sought a new way to sculpt light around musculature.

What began as a dance- and fashion-centric project quickly became a study in the characters that inhabit us - both authentic and created. Actors, Dancers, Fetishists and Fasionistas. Every single person that stepped on the OG Lumination set, aka “the box,” brought and bore a unique part themselves. The impact of so many people willing to be that level of vulnerable with me, often the first time we’d met, was incredibly impacting on me.

Inspiration to light subjects from directly below was drawn from theatre, with a god-light added above to match - the hardest clamshell light possible. Ethereal shapes, creatures and characters were created through isolating subjects in negative space with few props, and little direction. Vulnerable. Powerful. Honest.

The black and white era of this work between 2012-2016 saw over 150 shoots and over 1000 finished images. Lumination was released as a limited edition coffee book in 2015 and went on to be awarded Best Complete Book at the 2016 Applied Arts Photo & Illustration Awards. The aesthetic continues to generate commissions today and has become a trademark look and defining part of my career.

a pulled back view of the first edition of the ‘stage’ (2013)