The CPB Foundation and Photoworks, supported by the British Council, are delighted to introduce the three selected artists for our Darkroom Residency. The artists were selected through an open call and will take place in Chennai from 5 December 2024 to 20 January 2025 to produce a body of work that will be displayed at the Chennai Photo Biennale, Edition IV and the Photoworks Festival, UK.
From Chennai
Ārun is a self-taught, freelance photographer with a particular interest in archival photographic processes. His work focuses on the contemporary forces of development on Indian identity, traditional culture and natural environments. His personal stories demonstrate his intense study of a subject often offset by surprising observations unexpected by the viewer.
During the Residency, Ārun will continue to work on his ongoing series, developing his narrative method and producing new prints with the gumoil technique. This printing process gives rich tones of black and white to produce beautiful prints which combined will integrate fictional characteristics in an organic and poetic way.
From the UK
Holly Birtles
Holly Birtles is a photographic artist whose practice spans performance, prop production, and both digital and analogue techniques. Often collaborating with writers and musicians, her work links performance to place, exploring ecologies, personal narratives, and the interplay of placement and agency within the wider ecosystem. Birtles’ work encompasses staged photography and darkroom experimentation exploring traditional techniques and large formats often with applied layers of AI-generated imagery.
During the residency, Holly will continue working on her projects exploring the manifestation of histories and ecologies through performance images, landscapes, seascapes, and the creation of surreal creatures in recognizable spaces. Alongside photographs of local land, soil, water bodies, flora and fauna, Holly will also use Midjourney to create images based on her own prompts. The digital and physical negatives will come together in the Darkroom to produce surreal and unknown species.
Soham Joshi
Soham Joshi is an Indian visual artist working between the UK and India. Soham’s work employs alternative photographic techniques to explore themes of urbanity and identity, inspired by the intricate relationships between individuals, photographic materials, and the urban environment.
In his practice, whether capturing the human form or architectural structures, Soham aims to celebrate the subjects he photographs. Through experimentation with various photography mediums, his current research delves into identity, utilizing alternative photographic processes inspired by traditional darkroom methods.
During the residency Soham will delve deeper into the themes of his ongoing project, exploring the intersection of queer culture and urbanity within the city’s unique context. Soham plans to experiment with various alternative photographic techniques such as paper negatives and calotypes to explore and convey the fluidity and complexity of identity.
We are incredibly excited to work with Arun, Holly and Soham and look forward to embedding them within the CPB Darkroom and its community of artists to create something special in Chennai!
