Natalie Arber, Surviving The Storm (PEOPLE 2025)

Surviving the Storm summarises a broader series of self portraits taken in my bathroom documenting my survival and the physical and psychological implications during a traumatic year which I have likened to a nuclear winter. I have been told that the bathroom is an unusual place to open up and the reason for this is the undisputed right to agency over proxemics within the tiled walls which paradoxically cushioned me from the outside world. The bathroom was a storm shelter filled with items I needed to survive in a life where I felt imprisoned and less than human. As I succumbed to the notion of respite as a pipe dream and embraced what this tiled oasis could offer me during this nuclear winter, surviving the storm became conceivable. As I began to cherish the bear-hug comfort of a fluffy towel, as I allowed myself to be soothed by warm water and as I welcomed the hum of the hairdryer momentarily blocking out the noise, resentment, just like sunshine to snow, began to melt away.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.