With This Breath – Finlay’s story
Finlay Mills was cared for by Dorothy House and died on 25 March 2022, aged 31, following the diagnosis of a brain tumour in 2018.
Dying Matters Awareness Week
For Dying Matters Awareness Week from 6 – 12 May, we will be exhibiting Finlay’s work at our Midsomer Norton Furniture store.
Exhibition at Bath Spa University and Publication
From 20 October to 16 November, Bath School of Art (at Bath Spa University) collaborated with Finlay Mills’ family to celebrate Finlay’s creative life through an Exhibition of his work.
‘With This Breath’ includes photographs that Finlay made during a period of turbulence and isolation, the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout this time, Finlay was also facing monumentally difficult personal health challenges. However, his creative drive was undiminished. His photographic work provided a space for him to experiment and to express the physical and emotional experience of his situation, with unique and extraordinary results.
The 100-page publication of work by Finlay, titled ‘With This Breath’, formed part of his legacy, something that concerned him before his death, and a project which has been fully realised.
Fin’s Photography Degree
Never half-hearted, he confronted questions of his own mortality and visualised his response to the medical interventions and care that he received with great courage and honesty. He used photography to channel these experiences and to connect them to other aspects of his photographic vision, through family archive, documentary narrative and self-representation.
After completing an FdA Action Photography course at Plymouth College of Art, Finlay joined Bath Spa University as a second- year undergraduate in 2019 on the BA Photography course. He became a key member of his year group and made a huge contribution to the life and culture of the university. Finlay graduated in 2021 with a BA (Hons) Photography Degree.
You can read Finlay’s official publication here.
Dorothy House Podcast
Finlay’s mum Sandie and BA (Hons) Photography Course Leader, Stephen Vaughan, share their painful but deeply inspirational story about Fin.
“It was an incredibly courageous and beautiful piece of work that was unflinchingly honest and deeply moving,“ says Stephen. You can listen to the podcast here.