Kimberley Wallis, Shield (PEOPLE 2022)

The trauma of watching a parent die resonates deep within you on a frequency you never imagined existed. No matter your age you are returned to the place of being a small child cast adrift and disconnected from the world. It is a time where you hold onto anything that keeps you feeling safe when your world around you crumbles. I grew my hair to donate as an illogical shield to protect me from my grief and feeling of loss, a sense of control when there was none. This image was taken a few days before it was to be cut off, 12 months after caring for and watching my mother take her final breath.

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