Humanity Always is a simple yet heartfelt work centred on a message that feels both universal and enduring. While the sentiment is perhaps always relevant, its installation in November 2020 (following the devastating 2019–20 Australian bushfire season and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic) gave the work particular resonance.

In November 2020, the words HUMANITY ALWAYS were installed above the entrance to Mental in Bowral, NSW. Positioned above the doorway, the words offered a quiet but emphatic reminder of our shared humanity during a time of collective uncertainty.

HUMANITY ALWAYS was inspired by an encounter Jess had in Perth while working for Oxfam Australia in the early 2000s. With some time to spare before a work meeting, Jess went for a wander in the city, where she came across an anti-war protest. Among the crowd, she noticed an older husband and wife standing apart in a nearby sheltered, marbled area. The man was wearing a handmade ‘bib’ bearing the words HUMANITY ALWAYS.

The message’s simplicity struck Jess immediately. While she’d long-held a personal commitment not to photograph strangers, she knew this time she had to. She instinctively approached the couple and asked if she could take their photo. They agreed, and Jess snapped just one photo. She didn’t realise that this image would become one of her most treasured photos.

The simplicity of the words continues to resonate deeply: HUMANITY ALWAYS.