Samuel Booth North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

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Samuel Booth (b.1982) is a photographer based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, UK. A brain injury in 2009 caused years of daily chronic pain, which photography has been a lifesaving therapy for. The photography started originally as part of a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award hobby in 2001, it has played a very important role throughout, especially now.

The Pain Monster is an intimate portrait of the struggle I have faced living with chronic pain due to a traumatic brain injury. Like for many others who have suffered similar injuries, this agony is a relentless ‘monster’ that lurks within me and remains hidden. Its unseen attacks are constant. It never leaves me. It is a part of my life.

In the form of a photograph, by using my emotional camera movements, and prolonged time exposures, I have found a way to confront this pain and give it a face. I finally have clarity and have been able to deal with the reality that I face daily. The Monster has been exposed.

The project shows the birth, maturity and various attacks of the monster, it demonstrates how nature traps the pain monster in its branches providing temporary pain relief.

This story is a hope of solace and inspiration to all who struggle with physical and mental pain. It has been a strategy to find a way to tame and conquer this suffering.