I met Severine in the Spring of 2023. I was living a frenetic life. Packing up my home and house in France, preparing an assignment trip to South Africa and organising a move to Portugal. She had been commissioned by a local estate agent to photograph my house for sale. I liked her immediately. She had a genuine warmth and intelligence. As she took images of my home with what I observed was a keen and curated eye, we exchanged stories as women do. I learnt about her history as a photo journalist and her desire to capture the culture and layers behind the images. She had worked globally but was now living in my local French town raising a family and continuing to hone her craft.

My South Africa colleagues were asking for professional photographs of me, which I really had no time or desire to organise. I’m not the most polished person when it comes to sleek and groomed self portraits. In fact I’m rather dishevelled unless I’m lecturing to an audience and have time to dress to present. So I asked Severine if she would do a shoot at my home in an attempt to at least have something half decent to send to Cape Town.