Siân Davey

Siân Davey (b. 1964) is a UK based documentary and editorial photographer. A large part of her work is documenting her own family and community. One of these projects is "Looking for Alice", a story of her daughter who has Down's Syndrome. It is a story about society's relationship with what is considered "different" as well as the fear and uncertainty that initially made it difficult for Davey to love her daughter.

siandavey.com/humannature/

Davey describes her style as a dance between intuitive and intellectually formulated. "The thinking mind is often needed to inform a moment or help us through a process of inquiry. But equally, the thinking mind can stop us from seeing and responding to the unconscious material out there. It can close down the adventure and infinite possibilities of the unknown", Davey says. (Wolf, S. 2019. Photo Work: Forty Photographers on Process and Practice. p.57.First edition. Aperture, USA.)

When creating Looking for Alice, Davey knew from the start she wanted to make a photo book about it. With sequencing, she was able to tell the story exactly how it should be told. She also reminds it is important to know when a body of work has come to an end - when the charge drops and you feel yourself losing the connection to the narrative, it is time to let go. (Wolf, 2019, p.58.)