Sign language stories

I’m super-proud to announce ‘Sign Language Stories’ - a major new series of portraits commissioned by the Wellcome Collection.

‘It celebrates British Sign Language (BSL) in all its power and expressiveness, fluidity and grace.

You can view it here: www.welcomecollection.org/stories

In many ways, film and video are the ideal media for BSL. After all, it’s a non-verbal language – one that uses visual movement to communicate.

But as a photographer, I’m more interested in how still images can freeze a moment for the viewer to gaze at.

I see it as a healthy challenge: how to use one visual language – photography – to capture the essence of another, BSL.

So, I invited eight deaf friends into the portrait studio – not to pose but to be their natural selves and to sign their stories while I took their photos.

It’s not intended to be a dictionary to illustrate particular signs. It’s more concerned about personality, expression, moods, movement, energy, shapes and angles.

Warm thanks to my collaborators for bringing their authentic selves to the project: Rose Ayling-Ellis, Peter Brown, Gavin Lilley, Nadia Nadarajah, Signkid, Sarah Adedeji, Raymond Antrobus and Chisato Minamimura.