This started as a project with my daughter and her friends, who are all part of the smartphone generation. They were 14 years old at the time and I wanted to learn more about the relationship they had with their mobile phones. In 2022, a study by Ofcom showed that nine out of 10 children owned one by the time they reached the age of 11, and that 91% of them used video platforms, messaging apps and social media by the age of 12. I spoke to my daughter and her friends about how they use their phones and the negative reputation that surrounds teenagers and their screens. They told me the positives as well as the negatives, such as how social media can raise confidence as well as knock it down.
I asked if I could photograph them. There was very little direction from me and – rather than photographing them in a controlled portraiture style, as I would usually have done – I simply observed them doing their thing. The energy was high: they moved so fast, dancing to short music reels, filming each other, laughing, scrolling, chatting, taking selfies, and back to making TikTok dances again. It was so hectic, I struggled to keep up. This image, called TikTok, came out of that session. I found this composition and asked Lucy to quickly look up at me. I had about two seconds before the moment was broken and they moved on to the next thing. As a portrait photographer, you get a feeling about certain shots, and I knew this was the one.
