Every, single, day was spent in hope. I had waited days, even weeks for the postman to arrive with that letter. What would the day bring? Joy or disappointment? I would run down the driveway, having caught a glimpse of the delivery

car – only to be left disenchanted as I trudged back empty handed. Day after day seemed like a test of patience until finally, a letter in hand at long last. An insurmountable joy ushered me back to the house.

Guided by my jittery hand, the letter-knife would seamlessly slice through the envelope. My heartbeat was erratic in anticipation of those first few words. Reading the letter would often be delayed, because I was so overwhelmed by the wave of memories conjured by a few photos, tiny paper hearts or a hint of perfume spilling out of the envelope like treasures from a memory bank. Each glorious word read like a screenplay - they were an alliance between my thoughts

and the writer’s intentions. I read old letters on numerous occasions, and each cherished and priceless letter remains in my possession to this day.

My project, The Paper Trail, examines the fading art of letter writing, age-old styles of penmanship, and how the rapid decline of such traditions has impacted society.

A number of factors have led to the vast reduction of handwritten letters, dating back to 1971 with the introduction of electronic mail. The continued growth within the communication sector led to the launch of social media in 1997, and today has been accredited for a resounding 4 billion email accounts. While speedy communication

may be integral for success for today’s business needs, technology has profoundly affected the way people engage with one another.

Now when we see a group of friends at a restaurant, each person is occupied with their mobile devices and families at home often text message each other from room to room. Intimate moments we could have shared with our family, friends, loved ones or even strangers in person are lost forever. Unless we begin a conscious effort to save some of the older, more traditional methods of engagement, we will turn into a society of robots, incapable of eye-contact, glued to our devices, incapable of human interest, and enslaved to and perhaps by technology.

With this project, I hope to give the public a taste of nostalgia and romanticism, while providing a platform for writing that first letter. The Paper Trail aims to remind and, strengthen a seemingly obsolete form of communication.

The captivating letter box portraits of The Paper Trail take us into a journey, a long walk down memory lane. Decades of local history, forged together through the telescope of modern vision, has created this series of richly storied, beautifully textured imagery.

Come meet me on... The Paper Trail.

Print: Archival ultrachrome pigment print on MOAB metallic pearl.