When we think of fashion images, I know personally the first thing that comes to mind is slim, 'catwalk worthy' women, whose faces look more ironed out than my dads work shirts. DiversityNOW! is a competition that allows us to explore diversity through various means, and portray the message that fashion isn't just about the cliche things, its about loving yourself and your style, despite your age, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or background. The diversity that surrounds us is why life is so interesting, and why LIFE IS SO BEAUTIFUL. Celebrating this diversity is a great opportunity for acceptance and to share the love! My submission for this project is the below image of Laurence 42, who is Maltese. He loves his identity, and is proud of the man he is. Behind the scenes of the final image, I was researching about Donald Trump, and and his proposal to build a wall on the border of USA and Mexico to 'supposedly' keep them out. Trumps ideal is to have no immigrant enter the USA, as he feels as though a true United States of America is purely born Americans which I feel even majority of Americans themselves feel is nonsense. Through my work, I wanted to convey that walls do not have to be seen as a negative connotation, yet a sanctuary, a new beginning, and a foundation to strengths. A 'wall' could be seen as a metaphor for many things, walls enclose us, and allow us to feel safe, for example in our own homes or during the war the shelters that protected us from potential wounds. 'Walls are made for climbing' is a strong message that, just because a wall seems intimidating, does not mean it is not worth the challenge of climbing over. The sense of pride and accomplishment is what I wanted to represent in my exploration of walls, and my final image. Walls are not a boundary yet a foundation to the construction of who we all are today. Whether that be Donald Trumps perfect human, or just you.

Nine Magazine is my most recent university project, a group project along side Sam, Irene, Doaa and Princess. Its been a hard process but its nearly here and I'd love to share with you a quick taster of the magazine before the final is here, which I will show you all. Please follow our instagram n1n3magazine for updates and keep posted for more images and articles!