Heart Of Stripes

2024

Over the last seven years I have grown to be proud of my diagnosis and the quirks and traits that come with it — it hasn’t always been easy, in fact there have been many days, especially during my time in education, where I hated myself because I was different.

My obsessions (a key autistic trait) with our natural world and with the art form of photography, have undoubtedly saved my life on many occasions over the years, and given me the most incredible voice and outlet for my emotions.

One of my favourite traits, is my incredibly vivid imagination. I have loved the camera for many years, and my subjects for many more years, and I often imagine new photographs that I’d love to take, sketch them out and then try to make them with my camera.

I imagine and sketch many more ideas than I take photographs in a year, but it is a challenge I relish — there are some sketches that I’m still trying to turn into photographs years after they’ve been sketched.

This photograph was based on one of those sketches, and I am so proud of it. It took me twenty-two months from sketch to photograph — all you need is 1/200th of a second, but it can take a lifetime to find that 1/200th. Especially when you need two zebra’s to position their heads in the shape of a heart!