Please welcome first time contributor Kev Hawken, a documentary photographer currently based in England. Kev first encountered mental health issues when he was about 25 years old, suffering with panic attacks, stress and anxiety during a period of working away from home. After some time of being extremely ill he regained control of his life through counseling and support from friends. After a period of good health he relapsed and became ill with fatigue and anxiety and decided to try and change things around by going to university and studying photography. Whilst at Nottingham Trent University Kev was still quite ill but, he still managed to complete his degree gaining a high 2:1 in BA (Hons) Photography. Kev still hopes to pursue a career in photography.
About these photos: “This body of work, called ‘Disorder’, was carried out during my time at Nottingham Trent University. I wanted to tell my story. I was ill at the time and spent a lot of time in my room so all these photo’s are taken within that room. I tried to convey a sense of anxiety to the viewer through performing situations I have gone through in the past – sleepless nights, feelings of hopelessness, frustration and nose bleeds. I found it quite cathartic to do this work and let everyone know this is who I am, this is what I am and have been going through, where as in the past I have tried to hide it. I still take photographs now that are connected to this project and hope to publish a book one day.”
Find more from Kev at his website.
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Broken Light Collective 
Kev your works are really powerful and offer some insight into your experience. I hope that you are able to publish a book in the future. Take Care.
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Brilliant work! Welcome to Broken Light.
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A powerful sequence of photos, life captured in still. Well done.
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What jarring, confronting images. I can’t take my eyes away although I think I need to…
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As someone who’s dealt with crippling anxieties for decades, these photos really resonate … the third and fifth photo are very relatable. Well done — and, hope to see more of the project!
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