Conceptual nominee

Anxiety has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. “Undertow” began as an effort to translate this internal restlessness into visible, tangible form. Through this process, I have come to understand anxiety as both adversary and protector.

This work explores the “shadow self” which influences how I move through the world, in familiar and unknowable ways. A low hum through adulthood, anxiety has come roaring back amid the hormonal chaos of perimenopause.

Using black and white imagery with touches of colour, I also employ double exposures and textured layers to evoke the starkness and complexity of my emotions.

Anxiety’s physical manifestations are present: the tight, hunched neck and shoulders, the instinct to shrink away, the ongoing, exhausting vigilance. Birds and feathers recur as symbols of fragile, watchful beauty, while rituals and breath exercises emerge as coping mechanisms.

This series is a meditation on the duality inherent in anxiety — light and dark, control and chaos, movement and stillness. It brings with it an acceptance of the messiness of my mind and a recognition of this shadow’s constant presence. I acknowledge the invisible pull beneath the surface — a force that shapes but does not define.

Rachel Nixon is a British-Canadian fine art photographer – and former journalist – based in Vancouver.

Having lived and worked across continents and cultures, Rachel explores issues such as heritage, grief, isolation and memory. She is intrigued by the visual poetry of everyday life and seeks out images speaking to beauty and broader messages in the seemingly mundane.

In 2019, Rachel graduated with honours from the VanArts professional photography program in Vancouver. Her work has been exhibited internationally and received accolades including four Julia Margaret Cameron Awards.

Before committing full-time to visual art, Rachel had a 20-year career as a journalist and executive in the UK, US and Canada for organizations including the BBC, CBC and Microsoft where she developed and ran digital news services.

She brings her editorial and photographic experience to her volunteer role as Editor of WE ARE Magazine, a publication of the Royal Photographic Society’s Women in Photography group.

Rachel holds a first-class degree from the University of Oxford in Modern Languages, and is fluent in French and German. Her international experience brings with it a unique perspective on questions of identity, place and belonging, and the connections we share despite our polarized times.