A big shout-out to photographer Susy Fernandes who is following the production of our short film This Is Not A Poem.

I’ve worked on dozens of productions but have never had someone taking photos during the process.

Being behind the camera one feels quite anonymous. Susy’s photos are putting the camera operator Paul Roberts and myself under her own kind of spotlight.

We chose Susy because she can immediately connect with our subjects of internationalism, understanding and tolerance.

She was born in Mozambique in 1974 in the year of The Carnation Revolution (Revolucao dos Cravos), to Portuguese parents.

To escape the riots her parents moved the family to South Africa. She lived there until she was 12 and then the family moved back to Portugal.

In 2005, she and her own young family left Portugal and went to England to work. They later moved to Wales.

In Wales, she decided to continue her studies at Cardiff and Vale College and joined a BTEC course in Fashion and Clothing. She is now studying a Foundation Degree in Photography with the USW at CAVC.

She says: “I believe that we are never too old to study and to dream. I’m doing all this so that my four boys can see me as a role model who, despite suffering from a chronic condition (Fibromyalgia), still has hope for a better future.”

We have engaged Susy to document our filming days.

The only thing we haven’t managed to do yet is get a photo of Susy herself!