NO BOX REQUIRED

I remember feeling frustrated as a child that I couldn’t fully understand my autistic cousin. She was nearly twice my age, yet confidence felt out of reach for her. Every time I visited, she insisted we played the same game. Over time, I began to realise that autism is not a fixed definition, but something that is shaped by individual lived experience.

No Box Required follows Finn, an eight-year-old boy with autism, and a question I keep returning to: what does it mean for someone to feel fully themselves?

With permission from his parents, I immersed myself in Finn’s world: engaging, empathising, observing, documenting. I spent time in the environments that make him feel most comfortable, allowing repetition and attention to guide the images. My role as a photographer was one of restraint, responding to his curiosities. Over time, patterns in how Finn functioned and engaged with the world became visible, evoking memories of trying to connect with my cousin as a child. Finn felt most himself when outdoors, or in the presence of his gecko, Dart. These were the moments that felt most honest, where expectations were reduced, and he settled.

Between 1998 and 2018 there was a 787% rise in autism diagnoses. This rapid increase is not a result of increased prevalence. People have simply become more aware of autism. But awareness doesn’t always lead to a deeper understanding and perhaps it can’t. How can we fully grasp something we haven’t lived ourselves? While I had prior experience of autism in my own family, spending time with Finn has taught me the limitations of my own understanding. Autism is not something that can be fully understood from the outside and it’s not about a generalised, blanket definition. What mattered most was learning to step back, letting Finn show me who he was and how he chooses to navigate the world on his terms.

Perhaps understanding isn’t about knowing everything, but about learning to see someone as they are.