@reginaoterra I’ve defied the odds all of my life. Medically, academically, socially, developmentally. Today superficially. I want to defy the younger rendition of myself that modelled and hid my scars perpetuating unobtainable ideas of beauty. She didn’t know any better at the time. Now life & society is about doing ‘shadow work’. Bringing the hidden self into the light. So I brought my scars to Brock’s home. Here you have it. My shame. Do you like it? Forget I asked because I don’t care. I don’t. I’m done caring so very very much about adhering to and exceeding social expectations. It’s unsustainable and exhausting. We are all too exhausted. Aren’t we? The cause was a pan of hot water that accidentally fell off the cooker when I was 3. During the incident a neighbour tried to help by pulling off my sodden clothing. With it she unknowingly peeled off my skin. It looks a lot smaller now, but at 3, this was most of my torso. It took three pints of blood to keep me alive, more than my small body could even hold. My scars are a lifelong momento of the love my parents showed me. While hospitalised my mother would slip into my room as many nights as she could. She would release the buckles that held my arms strapped to my cot. She would sleep in a reclining chair with us chest to chest (bindings and padding between us) and both my arms either side of her neck so toddler-me couldn’t itch at the healing skin grafts which they had lifted from my thigh. I welcomed her embrace above that of the scary asylum esque alternative which was my cot. When eventually released from hospital, E45 was applied daily each morning at home and fresh bandages applied. We lived in a cottage with no central heating and stone floors. So in the cold half-light of the mornings my father would diligently warm the cream between his palms before gently caring for my wounds. These memories took place in the quiet gentle moments when I was stirring, dreamy and vulnerable. P2 to follow: #beauty #burns #portrait#photography #awareness #hasselblad #scars #TheBrockElbankFoundation #profoto #London #cutlerandgross #colour #mentalhealth #bodypositive #skincare #blackandwhite @hasselblad @nathalie.bond