My final project centres on photographing my brother, Cathal, and developed from my interest in the platonic female gaze. As I approach the end of my final year, I find myself reflecting on the physical and emotional distance that has grown between me and my family. The prospect of entering a new stage of life has made this separation feel more pronounced.

Over the past few months, I have spent time with Cathal, rediscovering who we are as brother and sister outside of the tensions of our upbringing. I began by going on small trips to the beach, little walks and places we used to go as children to. The process began by photographing our surrounding landscapes and slowly, after building up trust and comfortability, it developed into portraits. Through these meetings, I began to understand the roles we each felt we had to play within our family dynamic, how that changed from children to adolescence and how that materialises for us now.

By photographing Cathal, I am exploring the dynamics of sibling relationships, while also using the camera as a tool for rebuilding an understanding between us. This work becomes both a personal and creative act of reconnection.