Myles User

Day 192 of Project Portrait, next up we have Myles Usher, a friend of mine from my days working freelance. Myles' story is one of trying to fit in with the crowd, and the masks he learned to wear in order to exist in circles he never felt were his own.
Myles grew up in North Bedfordshire, in a place he describes as "Paddington Bear-esq, all beautiful leafy streets and old buildings."
His childhood however, was more of a challenge. Myles loved the theatre, dance, musicals, all the things a boy wasn't supposed to love. His parents were encouraging of his love of the arts, but Myles spotted early on it made him different. He wasn't like the other kids.
So he did what any boy who didn't fit in did, he learned to camouflage himself, to hide in plain sight among the boys of his school.
He learned to copy what others said about the football on the weekend, and balked at the suggestion he take up drama when the school offered at as an extra curricular activity. "Too obvious," he said.
Myles had to wait until he was at university before he felt he was allowed to show who he felt he was on the inside: someone who enjoyed things that those around him simply didn't know existed.
While that was a long time ago, and Myles can embrace his love of the golden-age of Hollywood and theatre, it's one of the things I like chatting to him about the most - there's still a sense that Myles still puts the mask back on every now and again.
There's still a need to hide. Whether it's just old habits die hard or the legacy of not fitting in once might mean he might not fit in again, he's cautious.
So for this portrait I wanted to show Myles as I saw him. Surrounded by vintage posters from a bygone era, the amazing retro wallpaper, the vinyl player he bought while at university, the painting of his grandfather watching over him, and Myles, in the middle of it all.
It's Myles as he's always been, now for you to see.
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