Dawn Collins - The woman behind 'Isolation 2020' and one of Blowout Magazine’s own

The diagnosis of a lifelong condition that has no hope of improving put me into a dark place about 5 years ago! It made me pretty low which led me to completely re-evaluate my life. My career up until that point had been in interior design, however, I had lost a lot of love for it. I came to the conclusion that I needed to step right outside my comfort zone and dive into a new career. I wanted to do something I had a passion for and not being someone to do things by half I launched myself in at the deep end, knowing nothing, other than the fact that I loved capturing memories and emotions!

This kick started my life in photography, and I haven’t looked back since. Getting into photography has been liberating and has considerably improved my mental health, making it easier for me to cope with my chronic pain and the many other issues Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) causes. EDS is a connective tissue disorder which for me affects the whole body including joints and internal organs.

I have been working hard ever since, assisting many photographers to get an insight into the industry and working on my own shoots, slowly building up my name and my portfolio within the industry of fashion and celebrity portrait photography. Unfortunately, though, 2 years ago my youngest of 3 children (just 9 at the time) was diagnosed with Leukaemia. This has obviously meant a lot less photography whilst I take care of her, much of the time being in hospital and nursing at home. The end is in sight for us now though, with 4 months of treatment left to go, we can’t wait to see her ring that bell!

However, last year just when we thought we could start returning to a little bit of normality in our lives, as Teiva had started to build up her time at school and I was getting back behind my lens, the Covid19 pandemic hit the world with full force! Both Teiva and I are classed as high risk, meaning that we have to take lockdown very seriously and shield ourselves. As you can imagine this has been very frustrating. However, in some ways easier to handle when you know the rest of the world are in a similar boat.

With so much uncertainty surrounding this unprecedented time not only for mine and my daughters health, but for my career, that I had only just started getting off the ground, I felt the need to look for an alternative way to be creative and in doing so, maintain control of my mental & physical health. It also felt important to do something that would document this time in history we are living...

Herein lies the birth of my ‘Isolation 2020’ project.... A project carried out entirely on my IPhone!

Featuring from top left: Addis Miller, Stefanie Renoma, Laura Whitmore, Emmett Skyy, Sarah Parish, Lady Anne Welsh

In this time of lockdown the majority of us have turned to the world of arts and entertainment to make our time in isolation more interesting. If it weren’t for all of the creative people out there what would we have done?...

My project is showcasing creatives, artists, fitness and wellness experts from all walks of life, without whom we would be going out of our minds.

In the first lockdown I got to know the person and then asked a few questions with regard to low moments and grateful moments during their time in lockdown and then took a few shots on FaceTime or WhatsApp! In at least one of the shots the artist has a word or a short sentence written clearly on a piece of paper summing up their mood or something they’re grateful for at this point in time. In this, our third lockdown, I have caught up with them and asked a few more questions to see how they’ve fared and what they feel they have learnt from it all.

Featuring from top left: Greg Williams, Tucker Des Lauriers, Olly Williams, Samira Addo, The Gut Stuff, Praya Lundberg

It has been really good to re-connect with people I have worked with over the last few years and it’s been a great excuse for me to reach out and connect with new creatives.

Creativity definitely feeds the soul and in the words of Pablo Picasso “art washes away from the soul, the dust of everyday life”.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed my first two publications from my Isolation Project and hope you will continue to enjoy it in the coming weeks as I share more inspirational people with you.

Personally, thanks to the lockdowns and being forced into finding new ways of being creative, I have discovered a love for telling the stories of the people behind the talent, not just in the form of taking their portraits. Telling their stories and raising awareness for their causes is really important to me. I’ve always loved getting to know people for who they truly are and to have the ability and the platforms where I can share that with others is very special. However, I do miss my proper camera and meeting people face to face rather than via my phone, so I really can’t wait to be able to get back to that. At least now though, now that I’m working more with the team here at Blowout Magazine, I can continue to hone my interview skills and keep telling the stories of the people behind the talent.

Article and images by Dawn Collins