Gavin Smart

The Isolation Diary

The images presented here are taken from my latest and ongoing series, an intimate visual journal which began at the start March 2020. The project is a gentle examination into the crippling stigma surrounding male mental health, particularly during these extremely challenging times. As a freelance creative I lost all my work when the pandemic struck, and like many I continue to face a very precarious future. Set within the four walls of an urban domestic environment whilst living with my partner Rosie, this series is a visual representation of the complicated emotions I continue to experience, battling with loneliness, depression, anxiety and unemployment. Back in March when I began work on this project, I set myself the task of keeping a simple written diary, a vital means of coping with my own mental health issues and making sense of the whirlwind of emotions I was experiencing at the time. As someone who has struggled with mental health problems for many years, this is a topic that is extremely close to my heart and one that is a consistently recurring thematic element in my work. The photographs in this ongoing project are memories of these private moments, at times when I felt it most acutely, helping Rosie and I to make sense of this complicated situation. Whilst this series began as a simple coping mechanism to deal with the immediate effects of social lockdown and unemployment, it has since matured and developed a far more nuanced and articulate visual language. I was sadly not surprised to read an article in the news today stating that currently around eighty-four men commit suicide each week in the UK, approximately twelve every day. With male mental health now a very serious issue and one of the biggest killers of young men, I feel that it is vital that we can find space for discussion of this difficult topic within the visual arts as a whole. It is my hope in sharing my own short story that others may find understanding and compassion in this work, in what can be a very lonely and difficult time. As a gentle response to sensitive issues of mental health, this series quietly celebrates the fragile interpersonal relationships that hold us all together, when everything feels like it is falling apart. Lastly, I wish to dedicate this series to my loving and ever supportive partner Rosie: you know who you really love when you need them the most!

Photographer

Gavin Smart

Gavin Smart is an award-winning freelance photographer. He has a rich and diverse creative background which began with his rigorous musical training, studying the tuba at London’s prestigious Guildhall School of Music. While he no longer plays music professionally, this period of his life gave Gavin the colourful life experiences which continue to shape his photographic process.

His cinematically-inspired images feature theatrical light, emotive colour and constructed photography, drawing a strong influence from painting, film and literature. His work marries the production of advertising for some of the UK’s top arts institutions, theatres and design agencies alongside carefully considered personal projects. Using imaginative storytelling to produce creative and thought-provoking imagery, his photography has since become a vital means of personal expression and an aid in making sense of an ever-evolving world.

Gavin’s work has been widely exhibited worldwide featuring shows in New York, Amsterdam, London to name but a few, and has been featured in many leading magazines and publications. He is currently based in Edinburgh, but his work takes him around Europe and beyond.

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