This Loneliness Awareness Week, we’re proud to share “Portraits of a Lonely Generation” – a photographic series created in collaboration with award-winning photographer and filmmaker Jeremy Jeffs.
This project brings to life the voices of ten young people from our community, each navigating the complex emotional terrain of modern loneliness. Through striking visuals and honest storytelling, the series challenges assumptions and asks: What does loneliness really look like in the 21st century?
Each participant was invited to share the moments and environments that make them feel most alone and to put into words what loneliness feels like for them.
As these conversations unfolded, common themes emerged: the difficulty of making friends in a new city, the isolating effect of social media, and the loneliness that can follow graduation or come with unemployment.
These weren’t posed or performative images – they were taken just after moments of openness, when participants had shared something deeply personal and paused to reflect.
Jeremy captured each portrait during quiet moments of reflection after his questions, when participants had shared something deeply personal and paused to reflect – aiming to capture the emotion.
He wanted to capture moments of stillness as from a common theme was that loneliness often can surface when the noise fades, when the world slows down and emotional distance becomes harder to ignore.
All portraits were taken remotely, with contributors photographed via video call in their own personal spaces – bedrooms, kitchens, and work spaces.
This setup mirrored the realities many young people described: working alone, living away from support networks, or spending long hours digitally connected but physically isolated.
The series explores a central paradox of modern life: the very devices that connect us can also make us feel more alone. The screen acts as a visual metaphor – a window into their lonely moments, and yet also a barrier that keeps us apart.
In parallel with the portraits, Jeremy revisited his own photographic archive – spontaneous images taken during periods of solitude: hotel breakfasts, deserted flyovers, early morning coffees, late-night shadows.
Without realising it at the time, he had been documenting his own quiet moments of loneliness – when without noticing, he tended to take casual snapshots of his environment.
By blending these images with the contributors’ portraits, he wanted to connect his own experiences, with that of the contributors.
Below, you’ll find a selection from the series, with each image is accompanied by a quote from the participant, offering a candid window into their lived experience of loneliness.
“Loneliness is coming home after a tough day at work, and having no-one there to ask how your day was…”
Nikki
“Loneliness is when your community disappears overnight, when you leave university and everyone moves home…”
Annapoorni
“Loneliness is going to the market to buy something, not because you need it but just to have a reason to talk to someone…”
Ayoub
“Loneliness is moving away from everyone you love for the first time, sitting in a new flat missing the comfort of familiar faces…”
Jack
“Loneliness is a quiet persistence presence that follows you even into a crowded room…”
Oscar
“Loneliness is a hollowness within you that feels like there’s nobody interested in your inner life…”
Asad
“Loneliness is endless empty days, waking up with a whole weekend ahead and no idea how to fill it…”
Roni
“Loneliness is feeling like you’re not part of anything, like the world is happening without you…”
Bukky
“Loneliness is struggling to find your place after education and feeling left behind and invisible as you look for jobs…”
Harvey
“Loneliness is scrolling through social media and feeling as though everyone else is connected, confident and thriving, except you…”
Lara
Credit – Photography by Jeremy Jeffs | jeremyjeffs.com
