Words and images by Helena Shan

Interview by Anna Henderson

How did your series To Yearn For come to be?

The idea for To Yearn For came from reading Speech of Aristophanes' in Plato’s Symposium for a college class. In his speech, Aristophanes writes how the origin of soulmates was a lesson from Zeus to humble man. I found myself drawn to this story and the idea of love being humanity’s greatest punishment – how we are forever burdened to find our lost halves. I wanted to depict the moments between finding something you didn’t even know you lost. Moments when you are away, moments when you yearn for, moments when you are, at last, reunited.

Describe your creative process in one word.

Impulsive.

If you could teach a one-hour class on anything, what would it be?

Baking meringues. Anyone interested?

What inspires you to pursue image-making?

A need to be understood. Attempting to concretize my thoughts for others to understand.

What was the last book you read or film you saw that inspired you?

Barbie.

What advice would you give to people just starting out in photography?

Keep shooting. If you’re like me and hesitate to start anything out of the fear of not being perfect, I suggest taking a day to photograph anything and everything that compels you and don’t review the photos until the end of the day. This helps me get out of the rut that every image needs to be perfect. And that everything takes time. Progress is not linear!