Ell Hammond Photography

Ongoing project ‘The Ghost Exists and So Do I’ 2023-

My existence is questioned daily; who I am is mocked and belittled, ‘you really believe that?’. I can’t defend myself to the mass of hate, so I retreat and embody the being that I understand and that understands me – the Ghost.  A self-portrait, performance and examination of my own feelings of being non-binary and how I am not readily accepted into this world. This artwork depicts the emphasis of this ghost character and how I feel and embody it. The Ghost is a safety blanket that I use to shelter myself; it’s how I keep going. The Ghost symbolises all that people deem to be wrong with me, all my insecurities, all my worries. Despite this, the Ghost provides comfort to me. Few people know that I am non-binary, and this creative artwork allows me to break out from under the safety blanket; it’s a difficult process but one I need to do.