After living with Eczema for 20 years, Craig experienced a severe flare up in the summer of 2025. As a photography student, he wanted to express his experiences, frustrations and insights the way he knew best – through a camera lens.
‘The Skin We Live In’ shows the reality of living with a chronic skin condition and portrays the sensations and emotions that words often fail to express.
These photos are both an act of expression and reclamation. I want this project to help people recognize and understand that every mark, scar, and flare-up tells a story of endurance and humanity.
The impact of Craigs eczema on day-to-day life is constant, inconvenient and expensive. He has a history of experiencing atopic dermatitis since childhood and has noticed his skin getting progressively worse in his teenage years.
During the summer of 2025, his eczema was causing him frustration in day-to-day life. It was a constant cycle to manage his flare-ups and apply creams. This inspired him to start this project, reflecting not just his experiences with eczema, but how he views his skin and identity.
Eczema affects confidence, emotions, and self-image in ways that are hard to explain to those who haven’t experienced it. I wanted a creative outlet to express these emotions and sensations I was feeling and experiencing. Through these photos I made the invisible effects of eczema visible to give form to an experience that so many people carry quietly.
By portraying eczema not as a flaw but as a lived reality, Craig hopes to challenge the narrow definitions of beauty and normality that dominate how we see skin.
He started taking the images at home, using a tripod, one single light and his camera. After deciding to submit the project for a coursework assignment he used the professional photography studio at his university gaining access to high grade studio lighting and backgrounds.
When taking the images I wanted to share a deeper emotional connection of eczema so it was important to me to not include my face in the images, so as people look at the images they are drawn to the experience of eczema that everyone with the condition can relate to.
Craig wants ‘The Skin We Live In’ to give other people confidence to talk about their experiences, as there is more to be said and shown. We want to thank Craig for his courage to share his story and his project with us.