NOWportrait began as a personal project. I'd always had a fear of taking stopping strangers and asking to take their portrait and I was determined to conquer it! Once I started I met the most amazing people, some of whom I've ended up staying in touch with.
In 2014 the project went public and NOWportrait became an initiative that encouraged people to go out and talk to a stranger and take their photo. Find our more more in the Facebook group: NOWportrait
See more of my strangers on Instagram
Portrait photography by Lucy Williams
Dad had a rare and rapid form of dementia called FTDP17 (re-diagnosed as PSP - Jan 2017) It affected his ability to speak, his balance and his motor skills. It's very different to Alzheimer's - as the disease progressed Dad still had his memory and was aware of his decline. As with most dementias he got more confused over time.
When he was first diagnosed we talked together about raising awareness of dementia, particularly the form of dementia affecting Dad, through a series of photos of him.
He was diagnosed in October 2014, aged 68.
By 2017, he couldn't speak or do anything for himself.
Dad died on 29th October 2018, aged 72.
21.01.2019
When Dad died he donated his brain to research. We received a report back from BRACE today and, on examination of Dad’s brain, his diagnosis is FTLD Tau with Lewy’s Body disease. Find out more:
Frontotemporal Dementia
Lewy Body Disease
Tau Protein
Frontal Temporal Dementia with Parkinsonism
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
PSP Association
Dementia UK
BRACE Dementia Research
Ever since I first got a camera I've been obsessed with waves, relentless and each one unique. This set of images will inevitably grow.
“All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came.” J.F. Kennedy
These images are available as prints - further details on request.
Many years ago I was given a book of Charles Jones' garden still lives and I fell in love with his work. These photos were created in my garden using his techniques.
These images are available as prints - further details on request.
The places that humans go to find sanctuary.
These images are available as prints - further details on request.
These empty room sets, created with just enough detail to set the scene, provide the backdrop for online porn films.
These images are available as prints - further details on request.
I sat in Union Square and as the afternoon drew on I became aware of a group of teenagers who were hanging out, being noisy, having fun. I asked if I could photograph them, they said I could and during the next four days I spent every afternoon and evening with these teenagers, hanging out with them and taking photos. They told me their stories; some had difficult home lives, some lived in rough neighbourhoods, some lived in care. Whatever their situation, Union Square provided a refuge from their lives and, after school, one by one each of them had started hanging out there to avoid going home.
Over the week I spent photographing them I became increasingly interested in capturing the moments of emotion, feeling and communication that happen amongst groups of teens hanging out. Young people who are no longer children but not yet adults; childish but grown up, confident but vulnerable, bored one minute and squealing with laughter the next, a sexual tension between them that they explored in hidden looks and over the top gestures, a desire to make their own mark on the world, together as a group but always, at the end of the night, returning home alone.
Work created on a Magnum Photography workshop tutored by Alessandra Sanguinetti
