When you first gaze into a photo by Isabella Charlesworth… it's easy to go with your visceral reaction. Prints bursting with saturated colour, deep shadows and silky texture… Her moody characters bombard you with their sorrowful looks and tempt you in with their sunken eyes…
It is all too easy to fall into this trap, but on close inspection, or even prolonged exposure, it becomes aware that Charlesworth is capturing something more than that, which pulls the heartstrings and ensnares your soul…
In times where digital photography is far too common, she dares to push her imagination through film, and its resulting tones and grain hold a truly cinematic feel, easily comparable to other strong female photographers from the roving eye of Cindy Sherman, to the fantastical Ellen von Unwerth.
And while her style continues to develop and shift, one thing is certain; her shutter will most likely never hold still, and her desire to pump her images full of raw emotion will never diminish
Words and Photograph of Isabella Charleswoth - Malcolm Pate (photographer/music
video director)