'Becoming' is a longterm project about personal growth and self-expression, made with a local mentor group for pre-teen girls including my daughter. With their collaboration I was able to make a year-long portraiture study which not only advocates for young women but also has a personal connection, both pivotal to my practice and to me.

What appealed to me were the unique possibilities in making a visual record once a month for a year during this transitional period - both physically and emotionally - in the girls' lives. I gave the girls maximum agency over their own image and minimal direction from me. I hoped it would afford them the opportunity to express themselves in their own singular way, and to control their own narrative outside the family cell. It was a surrender to trust over time: mine in them and, hopefully, theirs in me.

Nearing the end of this project, I'm able to observe the girls' personal growth - there's a confidence in them now that wasn't there at the start. It's a beautiful arc of moments.

Phillipa is a self-taught photographer based in Hong Kong. A nomadic life across Asia and Africa has fed her deep interest in our interrelatedness with the built and natural environments, and with each other. Phillipa visualises these connections as a means to contextualise and consider social and environmental concerns, and her own sense of self within the collective.

She shoots both analog and digital, and supports her personal work with print sales and private commissions. Her work is exhibited globally. As part of her wider practice, Phillipa works with community-led initiatives that advocate for the disadvantaged.