Photojournalism since its inception has played a significant role in shaping collective memory, particularly in the aftermath of a catastrophic event. National disasters appear to be an omnipresent feature of lived experience with every generation being able to recount one kind or another. When images of disaster or social upheaval are disseminated through the press, inevitably a bias is formed; what is put on display for public consumption invariably serves the dominant discourses.

Through looking at British disasters that have occurred throughout the past forty years, I have produced a number of coloured pencil drawings and paintings that transcribe photographs taken at specific sites of trauma. Most commonly I have selected images that depict events that have taken place within my life -time and often within my locality.

Whilst working through the notion of artist as archivist, I aim to investigate the nature by which personal and societal experience is represented by the wider media. By way of examining ideas that focus on trauma and its impact on community consciousness, I wish to countenance the view that traumatic events are instrumental in galvanising perceptions of cultural identity.