Cinzia D'Ambrosi and Transitional

Documentary Photography Review Podcast

In this podcast we talk to Cinzia D’Ambrosi about her photographic work Transitional, in which she documents people stuck in various forms of temporary, emergency, housing in London, Slough and Chichester. She tells us about her journey into documentary photography, starting as a painter and moving into photography after her first degree. She recently went back to do a Masters at the London College of Communication, where she was especially interested in understanding the ethical position of a documentary photographer. Cinzia has a very personal approach to her photography and tends to work on long terms projects; for Transitions she has spent over 2 years getting to know the residents, spending time talking with them and building relationships. She wanted to portray a set of images that breaks the stereotypes associated with the homeless or those in temporary accommodation. She chose a partially participatory approach to Transitional - working with the people she was photographing to choose the final edit of images, and leaving out any they were not happy with. Cinzia talks about the learning curve of self-publishing a Blurb book and her approach to visually laying out the story in book form.