IN FOCUS: Rosie Barnes and Pupat Chenaksara
To book a place: HERE
Join us for an intimate and insightful evening as we explore the intersections of neurodiversity, mental health, and the human condition through the lenses of two profound visual storytellers. We are delighted to welcome Rosie Barnes, a celebrated documentary photographer whose decades of work have reshaped public understanding of autism and the non-human world, alongside Pupat Chenaksara, a rising visual artist who uses photography to navigate the delicate landscapes of anxiety and modern uncertainty. Together, they will share how their personal experiences ranging from caregiving and advocacy to personal healing inform their creative processes, offering a unique look at how the camera can be used to document and heal.
Rosie Barnes is a fine art documentary photographer, living in London. Her work explores the human condition, neurodiversity, and our relationship with the non-human world. For over thirty years she has developed long-term projects that challenge assumptions, expand public understanding, and give visibility to people and subjects often overlooked. Known for her clarity, direct way of communicating and often humour, she creates work that resonates beyond traditional photographic and art gallery spaces and gives big theme subjects an easy accessibility. She has been commissioned to work on numerous picture stories for the Guardian, FT, Wellcome Collection etc and has exhibited internationally, in China, Japan, the US, Sweden, Greece, Slovakia and within the UK – including at the Centre for British Photography. Rosie is known for her influential work on autism and has published two books on the subject and spoken at the National Galleries of Scotland, having had two portraits from ‘No You’re Not, Yes I Am, a portrait of autistic women’, selected for the prestigious Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. She is also a carer for one of her adult sons and has also recently set up a CIC – Satsuma Neighbour, to campaign for and build supportive housing communities for independent but vulnerable autistic people.
Pupat Chenaksara (b. Bangkok, Thailand) is a photographer and visual artist based in London, UK. His work grows from a need to understand what it means to live with uncertainty, both personally and collectively. After a personal experience with mental health challenges, he began using his camera to navigate the spaces between fragility and strength. Through still and moving images, Pupat connects with others to explore how we cope, heal, and communicate in times of instability. His projects often start with quiet conversations that unfold into intimate portraits and published works. Pupat holds an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from University of the Arts London (UAL) and was a finalist at the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards. His work has been featured on BBC News and Rolling Stone. Pupat will be presenting ‘I’m Trying Not to Think About It’, a series exploring the mental states of young people living with anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. Through quiet conversations, images, and self-portraits, the project traces how society and capitalism shape emotional life. By participating himself, the artist demonstrates that these experiences are both personal and shared. He observes the fragile, restless state of youth and thesubtle ways steadiness appears.
IN FOCUS is presented by the Photojournalism Hub in collaboration with Riverside Studios, bringing to the public compelling and thought-provoking contemporary documentary photography and photojournalism.
