Untitled by Clara Philippe

This portrait explores how space and memory shape who we are.

The kitchen belongs to my grandmother in France, a place layered with family history and everyday rituals. I chose to capture her mid-call, surrounded by clutter – jars, dishes, half-eaten meals – as a way of reflecting how lived-in spaces hold emotional weight.

Having grown up between two cultures, France and Australia, I often think about identity as something inherited and shaped by both presence and distance. Brisbane represents the present: opportunity, new beginnings. France carries the past: generations, tradition, connection. The home phone becomes a symbol of this distance, of trying to stay connected across time zones and time itself.

Through this work, I’m questioning how much of our identity is formed by where we are versus where we’ve come from. Are we ever truly separate from our roots? Even when oceans away, do those spaces, and the people in them, still define us?