Laura Walker, The Reno (DOCO 2024)

With the rise of DIY and home renovation shows, we are constantly bombarded with the outdated 'before' and glamorous 'after' photos of house renovations. Always framed by a part of the house, each image in this documentary series is a faceless portrait of my husband during our home renovation. The overwhelming loneliness of working by himself, the repetition of carrying heavy tools from one side of the house to the other, the smell of dust, dirt, dead pests and sewerage and the constant physical and emotional exhaustion shown in these images highlight his seemingly endless struggle to make a home for his family. With this series of faceless images, I wanted to capture the raw, mess and real-life parts of a home DYI home reno that every renovator may experience, but are often glossed over.

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