Thomas Duffield is a 21 year old photographer from the outskirts of Leeds, UK. His personal projects incorporate various photographic disciplines, and allow him to create richer story based series or an individual. He is also a writer for the Pupil Sphere. We’ll take a look at his series The Whole House is Shaking.
When he was younger, he started photographing his friends at the skatepark, and kept being fascinated by the camera’s ability to render the world, which it is still really magical to him. Thomas has a specific appreciation for this medium because of its unique relationship with truth and fiction, “thus allowing a representation that has an intrinsic and physical relationship to truth whilst retaining the artistic intentions of the photographer.”
His series The Whole House is Shaking focuses inwards on his family life. In particular, his father’s past heroin addiction and the efforts of his family to conceal it from his sister and him as children. Including various photographic styles,
“The whole house is shaking’ then, investigates the concealed addiction within the family.”
the project was cathartic for Thomas and really opened up dialog within his family regarding things that had been previously un-explained. He is currently working on a 48 pages publication, featuring unseen photographs and archival material, which will be launched later in the year on Tide Press.
“Our home was a static caravan that sat quietly in a field with walls entangled with Ivy, on a small farm where my mother and father began to raise my sister and I. During this time my father struggled with a heroin addiction. However difficult it may have been at times for my mother and father, to my memory we had a charmed life growing up.
As children, my father’s addiction was not discussed and after he left, years passed with little contact. It was only much later that I learnt of the complexities of my parent’s relationship. I now meet with my father regularly to offer some support as he undergoes a detox. When we meet up we talk about nothing in particular.
The whole house is shaking’ then, investigates the concealed addiction within the family and looks towards the emotional reverberations that continue as a result of this.”
Visit Thomas’ website.
