At the beginning of 2024 I started a 365 project.
Originally, it was to be One Camera, One Lens, One Year – A Sony A7rIII converted to Infrared 720nm with a fixed focal length 55mm lens.
I was posting an infrared image every day for the first few months of 2024, but found the limitations that I had set myself too challenging. I first changed the parameters, but eventually brought it to a close about 100 days in.
For a few months I shelved the idea of a project and gave myself some time to reconsider.
There were 2 elements that I had particularly enjoyed.
The first was the black and white aspect of my infrared photography. I had my Sony camera converted to 720nm because this wavelength is suited to black and white edits, providing good contrast and dynamic range.
The other thing that came out of the 365 was the fact that I was on a daily mission to find subject matter for my photographs. I wanted to make it interesting and varied, but one subject I found myself returning to was my husbands hands.
Paul was diagnosed with advanced cancer in the Summer of 2023. He has been on intensive chemotherapy treatment every 2 weeks since then. A lasting side effect of one element of the chemo has been peripheral neuropathy, causing numbness and tingling sensations in his extremities. His hands and how they are responding to the treatment have become a regular topic of conversation.
In addition to this, the monoclonal antibodies that Paul has been administered to try to target the cancer has caused awful skin reactions, particularly on his face, scalp and upper body. As a result he has been, understandably, reluctant for me to photograph him. This naturally conflicts with my desire to capture some lasting momentos, which I suppose is one of my reactions to the devastating news of his cancer diagnosis. We have come to a compromise. Hence ‘A Show of Hands’
This will be an open ended study.
