Lancashire photographer Donna Craddock loves to capture the perfection in everyone from behind her lens. Her ‘Warrior Project’ is a series of stunning shoots of people with a physical or mental illness or disability, Donna invites participants to share their story in beautiful portraits meant to boost their confidence and increase awareness. Over the next six issues Northern Life will be meeting the people behind the portraits. Here’s our first incredible warrior…

Liara Cartier

Liara was just eight years old when a blackout swept through her home city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Like many Bangladeshi households in the 2000s, before electrical generators were common, Liara’s family reached for a kerosene lantern to illuminate the house. The lantern exploded in Liara’s face as she was playing, leaving her paralysed and burning until her mother came to the rescue. She suffered 40% first to second degree full thickness burns to her face, neck, chest, underarms and legs.

After the accident, Liara’s family moved to the UK seeking a normal life. “I’ve lived in Bradford for a while, then I was in London and now I’m back to Burnley. I grew up here so I have lots of memories,” Liara smiles.

Growing up in Burnley, Liara, like many other little girls dreamed of being a model, she remembers posing in front of the mirror with her mother’s lipstick and imitating magazine covers and actresses. This dream led her to discover Donna Craddock, founder of local Burnley studio Click Click Bang Photography.

“I wanted to do a shoot that is not just about me as a person, but about my body and my life living with the burns.”

“I always had an ambition to do modelling and after I came out of a bad relationship in 2011 I decided to do something about it. I found Donna on Facebook and I hired her to do some starting pictures of me. We quickly sketched up a plan to do a gothic bride shoot, and that’s where I started my modelling career,” Liara explains.

Liara spent three years as a model, doing freelance work and even modelled for high street giant Next.

I left the industry in 2014 due to body dysmorphia,” Liara explains, “I had a lot of insecurities. I started to develop an awareness of my burns and how people viewed me. I don’t know why it was all of a sudden, but, because it kicked in, I couldn’t pose in front of the camera anymore.”

Even though Liara had left modelling, she kept in touch with Donna and they became friends. Donna often shared her ideas for shoots with Liara and the Warrior Series was no exception.

“At first, I was hesitant about getting involved, because living with body dysmorphia isn’t easy, you struggle to face your own reflection. But Donna felt that I would be the perfect person to be a part of it, that it could be my comeback or could help me find something within myself again or even overcome my condition – so I thought ‘I’ll give it a go!’

The day of the shoot, Liara arrived with bundles of lingerie and handmade gold rhinestone clothing from Etsy. “I have a tendency for going for the craziest or boldest ideas,” Liara laughs.

“I wanted to do a shoot that is not just about me as a person, but about my body and my life living with the burns.”

Liara and Donna had a chat and a brew before the shoot to calm her nerves before diving in to create these stunning photos.

“There’s one photo where I’m trying to hold my crown up, I have a rhinestone-made bikini on and I remember in the shot trying to fix my crown like that one Beyonce album cover. That photo is my most favourite.”

For Donna the shoot represented a turning point in her life. “I think it did help improve my mental health. At the time I was coming out of a second very bad relationship, and that relationship was quite significant because the person I was with lowered my self-esteem, I was falling apart. Working with Donna made me realised that the ideas, thoughts, and feelings I have about myself and how I look isn’t as significant as I’m thinking. It’s a natural human thing to blow things out of proportion in our head, especially if we’re surrounded by negative people who put us down all the time.”

Now, Liara is hoping to get back into photography and modelling. “At the moment I just finished a shoot I did with my friend Jack Tranter, and I’m hoping to maybe invest in my own photography, maybe even do a few model shoots myself.”

“Go out there and dress how you want, take photos, pose – have something that you can capture your confidence with!”

For anyone going through dysmorphia, depression, self-image issues, Liara advises to remember that you live only once.

“At the end of the day maybe it is a body you have to compromise with, but do whatever you feel is necessary to feel comfortable with yourself and to be able to love yourself. What others think doesn’t matter, you still have to be able to look in the mirror and think ‘I am happy with how I am, how I dress, how my body is’ – and that’s the struggle with dysmorphia.

“Go out there and dress how you want, take photos, pose – have something that you can capture your confidence with! We judge people who have had plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery and tell them they shouldn’t do that – as burn survivors we tend to get this a lot. So instead of thinking that ‘I have to try and live with myself ’ try to find what might make your wellbeing better and improve your thinking. You live only once, and you have to live it – not someone else.”

Discover more about The Warrior Series at clickclickbang.co.uk/blog

NorthernLife Mar/Apr 23