When Annette Ruzicka struck a rocky patch in her marriage with husband Ryan, her response was as unexpected as it was creative.

She decided to document the intensely personal relationship struggles in a revealing photo essay.

Intensely personal: Ruzicka turned the camera on herself in this image entitled After A Fight. Credit:Annette Ruzicka

That searing series of images, examining the effects of shiftwork on her marriage, has now won 38-year-old Ruzicka the Sunstudios Emerging Photographer Award.

But the project, called Eggshells, nearly didn't happen.