Tree house, East Molesey, England.

Box den, Hamilton, New Zealand.

“What is not seen is for all practical purposes non-existent”. Solomon

Necessity to remain hidden from “others” and the world is at the core of Purdom’s photographic project From certainty to doubt, which looks at the multifaceted ways in which concealment, camouflage, mimicry and ambiguity play as much a part in the lives of humans as they do the animal kingdom.

Den building, a childhood pursuit has undergone a revival in recent years, allowing children to get back to nature and enabling them to disappear from parents (albeit for a brief period). Dens are recognised as an antidote to the pervasiveness of electronic gaming. “The den is a secret place, built outside the confines of the adult world. It is a place of retreat, but also a place of togetherness, a social space, that reinforces allegiances and bonds between small groups or gangs.” (Edgelands, by Farley and Symmons Roberts, 2012).