No one really tells you

No One Really Tells You examines how young men come to understand what it means to be a man when masculinity is continually defined, yet never clearly understood. Expectations surrounding behaviour, emotion, and identity are pervasive but rarely articulated. Instead, they are absorbed indirectly, through observation, through other men, and through online spaces where masculinity is performed, compared, and subtly enforced.

Shot on Dartmoor, the figures are positioned within an exposed and indeterminate landscape. The terrain offers no fixed direction, only distance, repetition, and moments of stillness. In this environment, gesture and body language take precedence over direct expression, suggesting an ongoing process of internal negotiation.

The work centres on what is withheld. Emotion remains present but contained, expressed through posture, spatial distance, and silence. These images reflect a condition shaped by conflicting and often unattainable expectations, where there is pressure to understand how to be, but no stable framework to follow. Identity emerges not as a fixed state, but as something continuously constructed and adjusted.

A black-and-white landscape photo of a single, curved tree standing on a grassy hillside with a cloudy sky in the background.
A man in traditional South Asian attire stands outdoors in a grassy field with an overcast sky, looking to the side.
Four people walking on a sandy trail through grass and dunes, with cloudy sky above; black and white photo.
A large balancing rock formation in a desert landscape, with rugged terrain and overcast sky.
Black and white photo of a young man with curly hair and a goatee, standing outdoors with a blurred landscape background, wearing a plain T-shirt.
Close-up of a person's hand making a peace sign with the fingers against a blurred background.
Close-up of a young man with curly hair and a beard, looking downward, wearing a zip-up jacket.
Black and white photo of a dense forest with tall trees and large rocks on the ground, some snow or frost on the branches and rocks.
Close-up black-and-white photo of young man's face, focusing on eyes, nose, and hairstyle, with blurred tree branches in background.
Two young men are outdoors, leaning over a large, gnarled tree trunk, looking at an object in one of the man's hands. The scene is in black and white and has a background of tree branches and natural surroundings.
A black and white landscape with a winding dirt path through grassy terrain, bushes, and scattered rocks, with a distant tree line on the horizon.
A young man with curly hair and a serious expression wearing a padded jacket outdoors, with a blurred landscape background in black and white.
A black and white photo of a solitary, leafless tree with twisted branches, situated on a grassy hillside.
Black and white photograph of a young man with curly hair wearing a jacket with a zipper and a small logo. The background is plain and white.
A black and white landscape scene with rolling hills and a single bush in the foreground.
A person wearing a Nike jacket is kneeling beside a body of water, holding what appears to be a dead or injured bird.
A black-and-white photo of a body of water with floating vegetation and grass at the edge, reflecting the sky.
A black and white photo of a young man with curly hair sitting on a grassy bank by a body of water, looking down with a contemplative expression. There are other people partially visible in the foreground, out of focus.
A narrow stream of water flowing through a grassy landscape with rocks in the foreground and bushes along the banks.
Two hands, one clasping the other, in black and white against a dark background.