Something that you mentioned earlier was the slowness in your work. To quote your acceptance speech for the Chris Hondros prize, it is work that is “far from the front lines and dead unsexy”. Is that slowness a critique of the current media atmosphere?

The bearing-witness type of photography is still very important. Many people are out their putting their lives and bodies at risk to do it and I salute that. I think perhaps that genre of work is not the best use of me. There are people who are way better at it.

I’m wanting to work more slowly and to try to be more thoughtful. More researched based, and more intentional. It is also a reaction to the speed at which everything happens now.

I’m not sure if ‘critique’ is the right word. It is a reaction to the fatigue of the hamster wheel 24/7 news and social media cycle. I feel that there are enough outlets inundating us with news – I’m not sure what I can contribute to that. After the thumb injury I moved to work more on commissions, exhibitions and a book. It’s been a process of evolving and experimenting. I’m growing in multiple directions and exploring more multidisciplinary ways of making, creating, telling stories. I’m looking beyond the still frame, in some ways. I’ve started experimenting with performance too.

I think we’re in the era of blending, bleeding, though of course each discipline and genre has its peculiarities and ethics. The terminology — researcher, photographer, artist — I have difficulty with. I’m just making and doing, thinking, growing! I’ve recently made a couple of portraits on a magazine commission, opened a solo show in a contemporary art gallery and am attempting a giant glass mural for a public art commission! And in October I will begin a research PhD at King’s College London. I’m hoping to bring together what I’ve accumulated up till now – going into my third career as it were — the research rigour of a historian, writing and journalistic chops, artistic curiosity, and create from there.

Also, I’ve been thinking about the difference between reach and impact. It’s great to reach millions of people through being on the front page of the New York Times, but having impact on a smaller number of people in a different form is just as valid — if not more so, in our crowded and noisy world.

I think it’s an exciting time when photography is seeking new ways to evolve, academia is keen to put out its research in visual forms, and some sectors of contemporary art are seeking more content to go with form. I’m happily confused, and exploring, learning and experimenting in this state!