The Road to Release

As we unearth the elements that envelop us, the caves we create may condemn us to the wrath of our darkest vulnerability. In practice, it can all sound so simple: find the source of your deepest despair, and dismantle it; cleave it to the cusp of its existence and render it harmless. A vaccine to vanquish the voices within - attenuate the toxins and then re-begin. But in reality, the truth that looks back through the eyepiece of introspection may only tighten the leash, not release you.

To be honest with yourself is to run against the wind, but being honest with others can feel like a marathon. In the black like night and the grey like day, photographer Chieska Fortune Smith exposes the silent sides of model Dylan Jones from Select Model Management, that find solace in his shadow. If not through words, but simply through expression, the fragile folds and flinches of the face tell their own tales of trepidations. Vacating from the tangles of trauma is no linear road to release - it means loosening your grip, feeling the burn and turning your back on the past and taking a sacred step into the present.

David Nolan styles Dylan in attire reminiscent of a time when boys were belittled for being brittle, but graced with flavours of a future where the freedom to dress and express is flourishing. Armed with a gesture bound to his chest, Dylan can begin to lay his troubles to rest and watch his pain blissfully decay as each petal wilts from his red rose bouquet.