Hiraeth - Stoker Photo

The source of my childhood

trauma is violence. It ultimately

comes down to one act, by one man, that occurred over a short

period of time. This one isolated incident has left a lasting

imprint on my memory and forced us to leave our home in Wales when I was 5.

We knew the man well. He lived directly across the road from our

home and he would spend time with my family. In hindsight, we

didn’t know the man at all - not to his full extent.

This one act of violence has affected me for the rest of my life,

but the person responsible took their own. I used to feel

intense hate for this man. For what he did to me and for how I

will always be. But as I grew up I began to think about what

would drive someone to do what he did, and it became clear

that, more than likely, he had been exposed to his own trauma.

Now, I am sympathetic.

This project has been created from a mixture of archival images taken from our collection of family photographs and new photographs that I created in response to the memories I have of the experience.

This project has so far been exhibited at the University of Brighton Graduate Exhibition 2021 and the Photo Swindon Viewfinder Exhibition 2021.

JOSH BRAMMELD