How the photograph relates to reality and social perceptions of the truth portrayed in a photograph is a complex relationship. There is certainly often a perception that a photograph shows reality – ‘the camera never lies’. Paradoxically in today’s world we have never been more aware of the potential for photo manipulation and doctoring which bears little relation to reality. Filters and photo manipulation are literally available at our finger tips in our phone apps and software to change an image immediately after it has been taken – to enhance the landscape before us, to present ‘our best selves’, to represent a completely alternate vision.

The question of power balance is more at the forefront of my mind now than it would have been at the start of my practice. Starting out as a photojournalist the balance probably lay mostly with the audience in that the newspaper needed certain types of images and press photographers and photojournalists are generally trained to seek out those images, and in some circumstances manipulate scenarios for the purpose of illustrating a story.