No one can do what you can do.

The Flowery Room 2012

How we feel about a photograph often changes over time, as can the narrative. When I made the Flowery Room series during my master's, I had no desire to experiment or find new ways of approaching work. I wanted a straightforward approach, working in a familiar way.

Much to the despise of my then mentors, who suggested I experiment with photographs of kittens, I wanted to do a project on memory. It was not an attempt to recreate a memory but to produce work that would help me remember places I knew as a boy growing up in the north of England. Having visited my homeland recently, after a ten-year absence, I can see that the places above have changed dramatically or are gone completely. My original idea had worked, although it did take a decade to realize.

Doing this project was undoubtedly a life lesson to stay true to what moves you to photograph. After all, no one else can do what you do.