Rosaline Shahnavaz

Today's Brand New Art We Heart comes from British photographer Rosaline Shahnavaz, she brings us a sneak peak into her adorable new book Aleko. Shown for the first time at Off Print at the Tate Modern, Aleko is the photostory of Rosalines fascination with her subject, Aleko, and their growing relationship. We have a chat to Rosaline about her work and creating her book.

Hi Rosaline! Who are you, tell us about yourself Hey, I’m Rosaline. I’m a photographer from South West London. My personal work focuses on people, mostly those close to me, and I also shoot lots of editorial and portraiture.

When did you first become interested in photography? It’s the really cliché story of my dad handing me down his old Yashica camera which I learnt to love. It had a flat battery and light leaks coming in so the results were really fascinating for me at the time. Looking back on it, I think I fell in love with photography because of what the camera meant. I was always documenting my friends and places like a fly on the wall. But then I began to get them to do things and go places with me and the camera was almost like an excuse for that.

Tell us about your book project 'Aleko', what were your ideas/themes behind the series? I met Aleko through a friend a while ago, and was so intrigued by her. A month or so later I was asked to shoot a nude portrait for exhibition which I asked Aleko to do. She was against the idea of being nude but I didn’t mind, I wanted to photograph her anyway. After that, I asked her if we could meet up to take photographs on a regular basis which she was down for. And I guess that’s where it all began.

Your relationship with Aleko is very important, tell us about your time with her The camera ultimately initiated our relationship, and we became more intimate and better friends every time we met up. This is so apparent when I look at the photos chronologically. I’d go around and just chat with her for ages before I remembered I was even taking photos. That’s really nice because it felt really natural.

What has been your favourite part in the production of this shoot? Mostly shooting, but designing and self publishing the book was really great. The photographs are personal and intimate, so presenting them in the book form allows for them to be viewed this way.

Any exciting projects coming up? Always.

Want more? Check out Rosaline's Instagram and Tumblr.