_project: funhouse 

(2023 - ongoing)

‘Funhouse’ is a self-portrait series that explores the body as both subject and playground. It is not a pursuit of beauty or identity in any conventional sense, but something freer: the joy of play, the strangeness of the self, and the absurdity of trying to make perfect sense of who we are. The project draws its title and spirit from the warped realities of a carnival funhouse, reimagining it as both a photographic process and a metaphor for life – unpredictable, strange, humorous, and at times disorienting. We all move along the same general path, from entrance to exit, but what we encounter along the way is uniquely our own.

The series began three years ago, during a period of depression, heartbreak, and profound loneliness. Setting up a camera and allowing myself to play, to make something without purpose or approval felt like claiming a radical kind of freedom, a way of reclaiming myself piece by piece. Where the history of photography has often rendered women as passive subjects, ‘Funhouse’ flips the script. These images are mine, made by me, for me. Playful, imperfect, and strange, they offer a kind of self-acceptance that doesn’t rely on being seen as beautiful, or even as legible. At its heart, ‘Funhouse’ celebrates what photography can do: transform the familiar into something wonderfully unknown, reshaping reality to reflect the inner world.

The series draws inspiration from the Surrealist movement, reimagining its principles for the modern era. In the spirit of Surrealism's rejection of rational thought and conventional beauty, this project pushes the boundaries of how the female form can be represented. Where Surrealist depictions of women often reflected male fantasies and desires, 'Funhouse' reclaims this approach through a feminist lens.