By Any Means

Here on a Roman street, a plant unbothered by the conditions it found itself in, has grown from the cracks of its marble home. When I came upon it, I chose to stop and bear witness to its perseverance, then capture it on 120mm film with my Hasselblad, because it felt less like a discovery and more like a reminder.

By Any Means is an archival giclée print from that encounter, held in a thick black wood frame that I chose for the way its clean angular weight gives the image room to breathe without softening what it's saying. The contrast is intentional — the rigidity of the frame, the rigidity of the marble, all holding the delicate nature growing through both of them anyway.

This is not a photograph about struggle. It's a photograph about what happens after you stop fighting your circumstances and simply begin to grow within them.

This piece is part of Bright Ruin, my series of over 45 unique works shot entirely on analog film over the course of 10 days in Rome, and first exhibited at Gallery ATARAH in September 2025. Learn more about the series here - Bright Ruin by Atarah Atkinson