Blank Media Collective

Resume

Biography / Personal Statement

 

My practice is concerned with when and how people reveal themselves, or when a situation/tone/moment or place reveals itself. I am interested in the location of the self, what that self is and how it manifests. For me photography is a way of directly connecting to the present moment. I am interested in the subtleties and the grandeur of life in the details.

Everyday I tweet a photograph of the day. Follow @Roshana_

I have photographed for…British Red Cross, Ron Athey, York St John University, Opera North, The Library Theatre, Contact, All About Audiences, Small Things, Nicola Canavan, Centre For Urban Education, h-oe-b, Anna Lindh Foundation, Small Things, Ultimate Holding Company, Eggs Collective, Michael Mayhew, Sophia Di Martino, Lowri Evans, Sinead King…

Exhibitions & Shows

  • Film Start Time
  • Cornerhouse
  • 30th June 2011 - 2nd August 2011
  • Solo Show

Film Start Time is a collection of the first images on my strips of film negative from over the years. They are the first instances of light seeping onto the unexposed negative, burning up the celluloid. They are the instant before. Some glimpse at moments never fully captured, others are abstract impressions of light and colour. The images take their titles from the content of the rest of the film; hints at what is to come. At a time when film is being replaced in the digital revolution, this exhibition celebrates the surprising and unexpected aesthetic of film. A medium which is beautiful even before it is begun.

  • Beyond Their Shells
  • Contact
  • 13th April 2011 - 7th October 2011
  • Solo Show

When I set out on the task of photographing the women behind Contact’s partner company Eggs Collective last summer, I quickly realised that I was going to have to dismantle concepts of staging, scenes, costumes and characters that came so easily to performers. To get a sense of the people beyond their shells I had to step in close. Informed by my yoga practice I was inspired by the idea of the true Self and the created self. The theory that we build and support limited self-concepts of who and what we are; sculpting our selves around social identification and opinions; what we do and don’t; our likes and dislikes. By removing all context and gesture I hoped to create the conditions for a deeper sense of Self to arise and see whether it was possible to capture this. By inviting each person to make one contribution (not an easy task) to their photograph I wanted to allow room for their expression of self and in turn look at how we choose to prop up the framework of our personas. I feel very thankful to each person involved for allowing themselves to be seen and photographed so frankly. In a potentially vulnerable set up, what I think actually comes through in each of these women is a real strength. In the words of Brene Brown – “That which makes us vulnerable makes us beautiful…I am enough.”