Laura Pannack

Young Love I think we often have quite a pessimistic notion of young relationships and forget that sometimes the simplicity of young love can form very strong relationships. Our ‘first love’ is a relationship we never forget and can act as a template for future behaviour and expectations in the future. A relationship free of worry, responsibility, experience and future plans can ultimately lead to one of fun and intimacy. Perhaps young people rely on relationships to ease the burden of the frightening time of handling adolescence and all its uncertainties; finding support in someone who will not judge but share the experience. Who will despite any fears or insecurities we have, accept and love us. But this is not to invalidate this partnership, as we all engage in romances for our own reasons. Creatures of self-gain it is through our ties with others that we establish a sense of self and a clearer understanding of acceptable emotional behaviour. This lack of experience and perhaps vulnerability means that our early relationships are not sheltered by the protective walls we embellish to defend ourselves from our previous damaging experiences. We embrace all the relationship has to give, we accept and believe the emotions of the other half and we do not question their actions, as we have no reason to. It seems that as we evolve and new generations form, the sanctity of marriage and traditional notions of romance hold less importance than they once did. Divorce is no longer a taboo and the increase in liberal views has encouraged society to be more forgiving of unconventional relationships. The complications of discovering a new found territory of love brings into question many issues that surround shaping who we grow up to become. The often perceived naivety can be viewed as a brave invincibility and produce a bond of unsheltered shared emotions, truly revealing oneself to another individual.Pannack’s work has been extensively exhibited and published worldwide, including at The National Portrait Gallery, Somerset House, The Royal Festival Hall and the Houses of Parliament.

Laura Pannack is a London-based, award-winning photographer. Renowned for her portraiture and social documentary artwork, she seeks to explore the complex relationship between subject and photographer.
Driven by research-led, self-initiated projects, Pannack seeks to fully understand the lives of those she captures on film in order to portray them as truthfully as possible. Perceiving “time, trust and understanding” to be the key elements to achieving this, many of her projects develop over several years. Pannack always chooses to shoot with analogue film on her personal projects.
Her work has received much acclaim and won numerous awards, among which are the John Kobal Award ,Juliet Margaret Cameron award, Prix de la Photographie , World Press Photo and the Vic Odden award.
In addition to her own practice, Pannack lectures, critiques and teaches at universities, workshops and festivals around the world, and in 2015, judged the portrait category in World Photo Press Awards in Amsterdam.

’I learn most when I walk with a camera; about myself and the company I share. I engage. I stop mentally. I listen.’