TROYE SHANNON, THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

Available After Armageddon (AAA) is a promise made between friends who grew up in a radicalized religious environment to always be there for each other even after their world had ended.

The work aims to give insight into an upbringing within a religious community that used indoctrination and emotional abuse as tools to hold people to
their faith. although this is characteristic of many religious environments in which thousands of people are held by 'law' as to what God could provide via 'reward' or take away via 'punishment', born into this environment the core characteristics of my own identity were stripped apart so that i could be made acceptable and  worthy of love, any choice made outside of that would condemn me and have me ostracized.

this hostage taking created by strict religious environments allows for space and ideology of systemically othering groups that would not be considered acceptable, be it their race, gender, education, sexuality or even their choice of religious denomination.

'Available After Armageddon" not only shows the struggle of confronting notions and ideas presented to me by my past but also reclaiming those ideas within community that I've found for myself beyond the trauma and being able to keep to the promise after our worlds had ended.

Bio:

Troye Shannon (b. 1990) is a South African photographer based in Johannesburg. He was part of the Through The Lens Collective mentorship program in 2022 under the mentorship of Michelle Loukidis. His work has been featured in Bubblegum Club. His work has also been on group exhibitions by Through The Lens Collective, Koop gallery(UK),Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Everything in;out at constitutional hill as well as on the Shutterland exhibition by the FirstRand group alongside Roger Ballen, Justice Mukheli and Pierre Crocquet. Troye Alexander primarily use various forms of film photography, He is drawn to the expanse of techniques that he is able to apply to his work through this medium. Having grown up in a radicalised conservative community for most of his life - his view on masculinity, sexuality, relationships and general world opinion was formed towards a more traditional conservative norms and alignments. He hopes to challenge opinion about these topics and to reform narrative in a way to deal with both his and others trauma.

INSTAGRAM : @i_try_take_okay_photos