You Only Die Once

You Only Die Once began as my dissertation project for a Documentary Photography programme at university, and it has continued to evolve ever since. What started as an academic exploration became a deeply personal visual diary — a record of my visits to the home of my friends, who allowed me to witness their everyday struggles with life, unemployment, illness, and at times, hostility from the world around them.

I first met Roger’s parents in Poland. They shared with me stories of their difficult life there — of how, at times, their sons had nothing more than bread with onions to eat. When they spoke of their early years in the UK, trying to build a life from nothing, I felt a profound connection. Their experience echoed my own challenges of settling and finding my place in a new country. In many ways, photographing their life became a reflection of my own story.

Over the years, the project gradually began to centre around their eldest son, Roger. He came to the UK in 2004 with his mother and younger brother to join his father in Boston, Lincolnshire. Roger is autistic, with Asperger’s syndrome, and has more recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

I began photographing Roger’s family in 2008. Over fifteen years, I’ve visited them countless times — both in Boston and in their wooden house in Poland, where they spend their holidays. They have shared with me their plans, their hopes, their fears, and their unwavering faith. In their home, I have always found warmth, love, and the essence of what it means to be a family.

What was first intended as a documentary on migration has become, instead, an intimate portrait of one extraordinary man — and a mirror of my own search for belonging.

2008 – Present