A shadow is misshapen reality. Elongated or shortened by the angle of the sun, familiar objects appear distorted, muted, hidden. As the sun shifts, so does the shadow, and we see the world anew. Perhaps the colours are brighter than we remember or, lit from a different angle, we see the cracks that had escaped our attention.  Sometimes, the shifting light can reveal a beauty we never imagined.

My shadow was breast cancer. After the initial plunge into darkness, I found the sun moved swiftly.  People reached out, treatment wasn’t as bad as I had imagined, and I had time to reflect.  I felt uplifted and embraced. This was Spring 2013 and I took up the camera to photograph the nature around me.  We live on a property with some natural bushland, so I began by photographing wild flowers, trees and birds. The more I looked, the more signs of life I found. Life full of colour, intricate detail and beauty in tiny forms.

The shadow of cancer has allowed me time to venture on a creative journey I would otherwise not have begun. As the sun moves through the sky I see the myriad artworks in nature awaiting capture through my lens.