Wax and Feathers

Jeremy Wilson

“Never regret thy fall,
O Icarus of the fearless flight
For the greatest tragedy of them all
Is never to feel the burning light.”
― Oscar Wilde

While 'partying' is seen as a fundamental aspect of socializing and letting go, it is also part of our primal instincts . Evolutionary psychologists suggest that gathering in groups and moving rhythmically together was a way for our ancient ancestors to bond, communicate and survive. In the Western World this ritual has become somewhat tied to drug taking—be it alcohol, ecstasy or whatever—humans seem to feel the need to alter their consciousness. Wax and Feathers is a visual exploration into this party and drug culture.

Jeremy was born in London in 1989. From the late 90’s into the 2000’s he was busy immersing himself in the thriving skateboarding communities around the city, this triggered his interest in documentary photography, focusing his lens on his friends in this—at the time—fringe subculture. For several years he worked as a graphic designer across various agencies in London, sparking his creative mind and sharpening his eye for aesthetics. In 2017, Jeremy left the UK, beginning a bicycle tour to India and its neighbouring countries igniting a photography project documenting obscure and fast-fading cultures from the woodland sorcerers of Northern Thailand to the wild nomads of the Mongolian Steppe. After one-and-a-half years and twenty-two countries, he pedalled into Berlin, concluding his 17,000km journey, whereafter his work began to take a more artistic direction, straddling the border between reality and fiction.