“These pieces capture manhood, snippets of vulnerability, and moments of abstraction, that often go unrecognized in the day-to-day.”
Trinidad and Tobago-born Nadia Huggins, investigates the often complex relationship between people and their environment, exploring themes of identity, memory, and belonging, through poetic, multi-layered imagery that traverses the intersections of conceptual and documentary photography and strikes at the heart of the human condition.
NB: Believing there to be a link between an under-explored aspect of Caribbean adolescence, masculinity, and the freedom of bodies in the ocean, I have decided to creatively document boys’ interaction with the sea.
These pieces capture manhood, snippets of vulnerability, and moments of abstraction, that often go unrecognized in the day-to-day. The ocean itself takes on a personality – that of the embracing mother providing a safe space for being – which is both archetypal and poignant.
NB: I am as much a subject as the boys for whom I provide solace. The boys climb a large rock, proving their manhood through endurance, fearlessly jump, and become submerged in a moment of innocent unawareness.
They emerge having proven themselves. The relationship between myself and the subject is also explored within this paradigm. The subjects are aware of me while posturing, but lose this cognizance when they sink into the water. It is this moment that tells the true story.”
All images © Nadia Huggins