“Inner oasis” - an editorial of identity & healing
An editorial demonstrating the power of self love within the harshness of the world, navigating as a young woman in a world divided by ethnicity, identity, gender and misunderstandings between generations. Rooted in lived experience rather than idealism, the work reflects the quiet negotiations required to exist, to be seen, and to remain soft in environments that often demand hardness.This editorial sets the scene of ambiguity within all these titles. There is no single answer offered, no fixed conclusion — only space. Space for contradiction, for complexity, for identities that refuse to be simplified or explained away.
Showing despite exhaustion, despite the heat of a harsh reality (much like the desert), a woman can find peace in embracing it all. Not by resisting the intensity of the world, but by sitting with it, allowing its weight to be felt without being consumed by it.Through this she can find herself as an oasis in the desert. A place that is cultivated slowly, through care, ritual, and attention. A space that exists inwardly, regardless of the external conditions surrounding it.
A safe place to soothe, to nourish, to be wild and free. A refuge where the body is allowed rest, where softness becomes strength, and where femininity is not diminished but expanded.Grounded in the elements water, earth, fire and air, the vibrant scarf a shield of love and femininity. It moves through the images as both protection and expression — holding warmth, colour, memory, and motion against the stillness of the setting.Props of different cultures, a woman of mixed heritage all speak to theme of identity in today's society and the power of embracing all of life's experiences as forming part of how we see and treat ourselves. Cultural fragments exist side by side without hierarchy, reflecting a lived reality shaped by movement, inheritance, and layered belonging.
The power remains in the oasis within ourselves, it may take years to find it, but once we do it has the power to save us and give us just what we need to thrive. Not as escape, but as sustenance — a source of resilience carried quietly within, capable of holding us through heat, uncertainty, and transformation.
Identity for myself is an important topic of discussion and I aim to explore this through my work. “Inner Oasis was a very meaningful project to me; having shot this series in my family home using the props scattered around my house collected by my parents from their trips around the world. As well as my mother being British, my father 1st generation Indian and growing up in Spain in the early years and now in the multicultural City of Wolverhampton where I was born. My identify has often felt scattered, all of these beautiful cultures, traditions, some flowing through my dna and others shaping my mind and the languages I communicate in, all forming part of me. However at times still feeling confused as to who I am and what parts of me I’m allowed to embrace. It’s photography (especially this project) that has allowed me to heal and bring all of the pieces of who I am together.
Even more of a healing process was sharing this project with my friend Kira (model in the images), a woman of mixed heritage herself, forming a bridge between our shared experience of identity and womanhood was beautifully healing.
yours sincerely,
The Lens That Listens.
