Beyond Fear

These photographs were taken over the last 5 years. They are drawn from 4 different series and the subject, broadly, is cancer and the art of surgery. I was given access to operating theatres, and have photographed several people at different stages of their treatment journeys through this disease: before, during and after surgery. Many of these images are challenging, but the fact they are shot on black and white film together with the lighting conditions and focus on the surgeons hands, gives them a painterly quality. Because of this, I was reminded of the hand gestures in Old Master paintings. One of my subjects also has a strikingly sculptural body. so I have juxtaposed the surgical images and portraits with details from paintings in the National Gallery and Ashmolean Museum and from the Parthenon marbles in the British Museum. The inclusion of these images broadens the scope of the project and places it in a wider human and artistic context.