Salomé Gomis Trezise's intimate photographs are inspired by family, love and relationships

"The more I process as a creative, the more I notice how essential it is to translate where I'm from visually," says Salomé Gomis Trezise. Born in Paris, Salomé grew up in London, moved to Brussels aged eight and moved back to the UK capital to start her BA in Design for Art Direction at London College of Communication. Her mother is Senegalese French, and her father is English, which inspires the subject matter of her photographic creations. "I try to incorporate my heritage and roots as much as I can in my work."

Throughout Salomé's portfolio, the family and relationships take centre stage. Whether it's a series called Dysfunctional Families, wherein the photographer has captured a cinematic snapshot of family life in the suburbs, or a high-contrast panorama vision of a couple embracing, posing and laughing in Figures of Love; everything she creates has a connection to her roots and the notion of connectivity. By looking at the themes of heritage, love and family, she says: "I think these are three huge starting points that can spiral into so many different beautiful narratives that allow me to reflect my life and surroundings while also being able to reflect other peoples' lives and surroundings. I aim for my work to feel extremely personal but relatable at the same time."

When working on a series, first, it's important to note that Salomé does everything herself. She adores the process of being a "one-woman team", meaning she'll have her fingers in many pies across the creative direction, set design, photography and style. It allows her to delve fully into her own vision and craft, wherein her ideas can fully materialise to what she devised in her head. What's more is that, without the influence of any outside sources, Salomé's work tends to become immensely personal; it's full of intimate and relatable narratives as she reflects on her life.

Over the last 12 months, Salomé has produced many wonderful pictures and series. Speaking of her favourites, she points us towards a self-portrait that was shot on an iPhone. "I love this image because it's such a raw translation of how I felt at that moment in time, and it was my first time shooting a self-portrait in years. It definitely pushed me to want to create a lot more too." Shot over lockdown in London, the image conjures up memories of feeling exhausted and confined, two emotions that she wanted to photographically evoke.

Other works include empoisonné, a picture taken in Paris a few weeks ago. High energy and dynamic, she wanted to create something that was textural and colourful, where the hues and textures "melt together seamlessly". Achieving just that, the photo portrays the more toxic side of love and trust. Elsewhere, Salomé has created an image called Hotel room short stories for a story shot with her boyfriend in Milan. "This image is special to me as it encapsulates a romance story in a way that is blatant but also open to interpretation."

Although drawing from her own life and experiences, the subject matter that Salomé explores is indeed universally relatable. Everyone has a story to share of family, love and relationships – the good and the bad. "Through all of my work, I want to create narratives that spark different emotions and bring back memories," she finally goes on to say. "I hope that my audience resonates with my work as they hopefully see elements of themselves in the imagery."