Sometimes, I Forget to Breathe is a research and development project exploring how collaborative photographic practice can create ethical, participant-led representations of women living with chronic pain. The project sits at the intersection of contemporary lens-based practice and creative health, investigating how image-making can function as both artistic inquiry and a framework for care.
Chronic pain disproportionately affects women, yet women’s experiences are frequently dismissed or underdiagnosed. This project seeks to create a supportive, women-only space where participants can connect through photography and conversation, maintaining autonomy over how their experiences are represented and shared.
The creative focus is on black-and-white portrait studies of participants’ hands as a way to represent lived experience. Hands hold evidence of labour, fatigue, tension and resilience. This method allows for intimacy and symbolism while protecting privacy and agency. The research will also explore how still photography, sound and moving image might intersect to form a sensitive visual language appropriate for creative health contexts.
Untitled #1 - Test image
Untitled #2 - Test Image
Rather than positioning participants as subjects, this project prioritises participatory processes that encourage shared authorship, care and mutual support. The intention is to explore how photographic practice can function not only as a form of representation, but as a framework for connection, ethical engagement and mutual witnessing.
Participant Experiments
Participant Experiments
