Hand Portraits: Lifelines

We all mould one another’s dreams.
We all hold each other’s fragile hopes in our hands.
– Author unknown

I’ve been photographing hands portraits since 2002. It started with friends and family but has grown into a wider project photographing those I meet, work with and live beside.

I love how expressive hands are, that they are intimate and personal – ordinary even – and yet at the same time they point strongly to our common humanity. Photographing and exhibiting hand portraits is one way in which I choose to acknowledge, honour and remember encounters and conversations with others. It’s my way of pausing and saying ‘this has mattered to me’. (More information about why I photograph hands is available here).

I gather these images in my everyday, through Learning Journeys and other discrete projects. See my book for examples of my work.