35mm Black & White Film Photography
July 2020 – Present
AQUATIC LIFE is an ongoing series I began in July 2020, photographed on 35mm black and white film in aquariums across Toronto and London, England. The project explores themes of displacement, belonging, and cultural memory through quiet observations of aquatic life—creatures suspended in carefully constructed environments that mirror my own experience of living in places that are not quite home.
As the daughter of West Indian immigrants, I’ve often found myself in spaces that offer comfort and stability, yet still feel slightly out of sync. The aquarium, with its controlled conditions and artificial landscapes, became a powerful metaphor for this feeling. The aquatic life exists between worlds—tended to and secure, but distant from the place they truly belong. Through this work, I reflect on what it means to carry home within me.
Each image is shot on 35mm film, developed by hand, and intended to be printed in the darkroom for exhibition. Embracing the slow, tactile process of analog photography allows me to engage with the work on a deeper level—leaning into imperfection, texture, and the physicality of making. It’s a way of staying present, of honoring process over immediacy.
AQUATIC LIFE is ultimately a meditation on containment and care, adaptation and longing. Through monochrome and grain, I seek to preserve the emotional tension of being somewhere that offers everything you need—except the feeling of truly being home.
