Hannah’s interest in photography stems from when her dad took her to buy her first camera as a child. This nostalgia is what led her to sign up to a photography course at college, unsure of the appropriate direction she should be taking at 23 and not knowing what career path she really wanted to follow. Hannah went back to what she enjoyed doing and what made her feel good.

Five years later, having gained so much knowledge and personal growth, Hannah is now coming to the end of her degree in photography at the University of Cumbria. Over the course of the last three years at university, Hannah’s work has covered varying themes; using rivers as a metaphor for transience and the nature of human beings, the social effects of lockdown, the concept of home, and finding solace and personal expression in photography. She has gained a lot of valuable skills especially in working with analogue techniques including colour darkroom printing, lightroom, and collaborative practice.

Moving forward from this time of structured learning onto next steps, Hannah is looking at taking some time out to travel around the UK in her campervan, gaining new ideas and experiences, making work, and meeting people. After this, Hannah is looking at the beginning of a career in the arts, starting from an entry level role in a contemporary art or photography gallery, continuing personal practice alongside this.

For Hannah, the pull of photography is its ability to induce a reaction in people, the use of photography to connect us together. It is a form of expression, creating space, aiming to inspire, to share ideas and concepts. It is offering something of yourself to the viewer through your work and hoping they can gain something from it for themselves.