Lauren Nicklinson | On Commission - 20|12|2012

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Right-To-Die

I recently photographed Lauren Nicklinson, the daughter of right-to-die campaigner Tony Nicklinson. Mr Nicklinson sadly passed away in August having fought and unjustly lost his case in the High Court for the right to end his life through assisted euthanasia.

If I were ever to find myself in a situation through ill health or injury where life became intolerable, I would hope to have the means and the right to end my own life with dignity whilst not incriminating those who've helped me. Current UK law will prosecute anyone who assists another individual's voluntary euthanasia, which to me seems deeply unfair and another sad example of religious sensibilities influencing legislation.

On a more upbeat note, It was fantastic to meet Lauren who now helps run the right-to-die campaign started by her father. I'd followed Tony Nicklinson's case which was covered closely by the British media and I enjoyed talking about the ongoing campaign with Lauren. The portrait was shot for Grazia magazine who were looking for a happy image of Lauren to accompany a piece she'd written about the importance of good friends in difficult situations. Lauren joked that it was refreshing not to have to look as if she's about to cry having been photographed a lot over the past three months for various publications.

I kept the portrait simple and made use of the contrasting background against the colour of the red dress. Lauren is a very bubbly person and her expression in this image matched the feel of the feature perfectly. If you are interested in the right-to-die campaign you can sign an ongoing petition started by Tony's wife Jane here and follow the latest developments in the campaign through Tony's twitter account which is maintained by his daughters here.