Michelle Sank’s ‘Kirsty’ Featured in The Guardian

Kirsty lying on her bed, Black Country, West Midlands, 2017. From the series My.Self, in collaboration with Multistory

Michelle Sank’s photograph Kirsty lying on her bed, Black Country, West Midlands, 2017, has been featured in The Guardian as part of a photographic feature on the Museum of Youth Culture, a new institution dedicated to documenting British youth subcultures.

This photograph is a part of Michelle Sank’s My.Self series, in collaboration with Multistory, which documents young people aged 13 to 19 living in the Black Country.

Sank’s work focuses on the personal spaces of her subjects, using interiors as visual expressions of identity and selfhood. In this photograph, the quiet, private setting becomes a site where youth, vulnerability, and self-representation intersect, offering a nuanced glimpse into everyday life beyond public perception.

Now part of the Museum of Youth Culture’s growing archive, comprising over 100,000 items exploring British youth culture, the photograph contributes to a broader narrative about how young people shape and inhabit their own identities.