https://www.instagram.com/mariagloriaharvey/

When I got my first camera at 12, illness trapped me in the house. Unsatisfied with my photos of ashtrays and flaking paint, I turned the camera on myself. The method stuck. Even after an amazing recovery, I pursued self-portraiture at college, countering claims of it not being 'real' photography with Lauren E. Simonutti and Francesca Woodman. Alone with a tripod and remote, an artist has only themselves, their ideas and emotions. Such an environment encourages the raw expression of creativity - and the opportunity to address social issues through the undiluted visualisation of personal experience.  Hi My Name Is does just that. It observes modern fantasies, of the perfect woman, the perfect family... all of which appear real when visualised, but in reality are unattainable. The images, though initially perfect in their frames, are false. The characters are somehow familiar, yet they're mere caricatures of glorified ideas. They can't exist outside their frames. On closer examination, they show cracks: creases in backdrops, hair under wigs, a remote in the subject's hand. It encourages us to consider how and why we chase unattainable perfection - and how the camera does indeed lie.  Graduating in Photography from Falmouth University, I've exhibited in Nottingham, London and Cornwall. In 2013, I won the YPP Prize at Nottingham's New Art Exchange.

Venue- Rough Trade