Where the river turns

‘I’m not someone who puts personal grievances on my website. I’m sharing this because this period of my life marked a real turning point. It was life-changing, altering how I see people and situations, and ultimately had a huge effect on my photography and how I approach my life and work.

In 2023 I came to Arles seeking a quiet few days away from London, trying to make sense of the emotional wreckage left by a toxic relationship with someone who displayed all the traits of a Cluster B personality disorder. I was emotionally overwhelmed and struggling to process it all.

I’d been betrayed and broken in ways I couldn’t yet understand. Sitting on the banks of the Rhône, I felt haunted by memories of my previous visit to Arles years earlier with her, when everything had seemed so full of promise.

The pain was raw, like mourning a death.

That dark chapter had led me to Sri Lanka the year before, in 2022, once again searching for clarity and healing. Even after that trip, the situation remained unresolved, drawing me back in and keeping me stuck in a cycle of confusion. It was there though, through the people I met and the experiences that unfolded, that I found the inspiration for this portrait and a creative energy I’d long been missing.

To see my photograph exhibited along that same riverbank in 2025 felt surreal, almost poetic. Life has a strange way of coming full circle. What once symbolised heartbreak became a place of renewal.

I’ve come to realise that some people enter your life only to destroy the goodness you carry because they lack it themselves. It was a painful lesson, but it showed me how much compassion and creativity I had within me. The proof was in what followed, the recognition of my work, the joy it’s brought to others, and the incredible people I’ve met along the way.

Pain can be a powerful teacher. It strips you down, but it can also rebuild you into someone stronger, more open, more whole.’