Dark Signs of a Red Summer's Shadow

Dark Signs of a Red Summer’s Shadow is a youth culture narrative that reflects upon the interrelated experiences of young adults, coming of age at a time of a fraught and ever-changing world.

On my 21st birthday, in 2020, I felt a heavy sense of dread as the pandemic unfolded in Australia. For two years, I was isolated, lost in the transition of becoming a young adult, letting go of being a teenager. Time stood still, yet it continued to pass. What occurred in a time of experiencing my life to the fullest — drinking beers at 2am, dancing through the streets with my friends, seeing my favourite bands perform, travelling the world and seeking life changing experiences — became a fragmented event of navigating my early twenties. The experiences I dreamed of began falling into a state of precarity; they became lost, broken and are disappearing. I was filled with boredom and fatigue, cut off from the world and robbed of its experiences. Confused, exhausted, and angry, a loss of innocence swirled around me and my friends as Melbourne’s extended lockdown interrupted our lives and altered our futures.

In this moment of social, political and economic fracturing young adults are perpetually navigating a fragile and changing world. A generation shaped by the pandemic, climate change, proliferating wars, have found their transition into adulthood interrupted, disrupting a void of lost experiences and sensations. Coming of age in a time of escalating global challenges has affected the way young adults perceive their present existence and future.  This narrative aims to shed light on the experiences and sensations which underpin the affective moments of becoming. 

Through photographic storytelling, I delve into a cinematic exploration to examine how ominous shifts in our social world disrupts the transition from youth to adulthood. The work aims to capture and convey the tension of transitioning into adulthood. Weaving together portraiture, lyrical, cinematic and speculative documentary storytelling techniques, this documentary seeks to process what was a confusing time in my life and contemplate the uncertain future of a generation in a world transformed.