Not In Kansas is a staged series of photographs inspired by the tenacious, self-reliant character Dorothy from the story The Wizard of Oz. Having grown up watching, admiring and being inspired by this character, whose journey of self-discovery overcomes fear and loneliness to become empowered and assertive in a strange land, I chose to create narratives which blur the boundaries between fantasy and truth, offering scenarios within which the protagonist wrestles with feelings of confidence, determination and boldness but is conflicted with ideas of isolation, loneliness, detachment and fear.
The series is photographed in different locations and contexts to explore, illustrate and emphasise these feelings and themes. In each image the protagonist portrays emotional uncertainty, from which the viewer is drawn to interpret the scenario depending upon their own personal perceptions.
The images are composed to simulate a sense of simultaneous coalition of elements of a before or after moment, with a deliberate ambiguity which only the viewer can resolve and further contextualise.
