Rosy Martin

Rosy Martin
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
Known forPhotography
Notable workOutrageous Agers, Too Close to Home?, I didn't put myself down for sainthood
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Rosy Martin is a British still life-portraitist, photographer, published author, and cinematographer specializing in the medium of photography as memory. She is best known for her creation and usage of phototherapy, a practice that "[Explore's] the physical and social construction of identities within the drama of the everyday." Rosy Martin perpetuates these psychoanalytical ideas through the usage of re-enactment and photographic practices—wherein her subjects learn to overcome the struggles of the self through photographic embodiment.

Though this is the most prominent aspect of her work, Rosy Martin is also interested in the application of work that explores a multitude of themes, such as ageing, sexuality, desire, grief, shame, family dynamics, health, disease, and gender in society.

Rosy Martin, throughout her work, consistently uses her body as a subject of facsimile, working to break and invert the traditional relationship between both photographer and subject.

Personal life

Very little is known of Rosy Martin's early personal life. Born on 20 November 1946, she spent her youth in a "1930s semi-detached suburban working-class house" which her father decorated by hand. As of now, Rosy Martin lives a council flat in London, as she has been for the last few decades. She received the flat through a 'hard to let' contract after she had been squatting there for several years.

Professional life

Rosy Martin, before becoming an artist, first studied as a scientist—earning many academic achievements at a variety of institutions (see Education). What began her interest in art was when she met her long time collaborator and partner, Jo Spence in 1982–1983. Together, the two used their shared experiences to pioneer the practice of Phototherapy in 1983, and Rosy Martin began to fully immerse herself within the world of photography.

Rosy Martin has run both national and international exhibitions since 1985 and has given a multitude of phototherapy workshops in Universities and Galleries throughout Britain, the US, Canada, Eire, Italy, and Finland.

She has organized a number of community workshops including a womens prison, projects with survivors of sexual abuse, and school-based projects on digital identities.

Rosy Martin has previously been a lecturer in photographic theory, art history and visual culture at Staffordshire, Loughborough University, and Maidstone College of Art in the UK. She is a psychological therapist in private practice, and she briefly acted as a consultant researcher in a multi-disciplinary team on 'Representing self, representing aging' at Sheffield University.

Phototherapy

Phototherapy, not to be confused with light therapy, is a practice of psychotherapy in which a person uses a multitude of personal photos taken by others to facilitate emotional healing, emotional access, and memory. This practice is said to help individuals explore the unconsciousness to better understand trauma and stress, while allowing them the opportunity to heal emotional wounds. It was created as an off-shoot to art therapy, and the term was coined and popularized by British photographer's Jo Spence and Rosy Martin during the 1980s.

Artistic career

Much of Rosy Martins work was created after meeting her long time collaborator, Jo Spence. The two coined and pioneered the practice of Phototherapy. More specifically, the two perpetuated the idea of re-enactment phototherapy, A practice where one stages an environment based on the contents of a personal photograph and then "acts" out the scene to re-visit the underling trauma or emotions associated with the memory. This practice is said to help one understanding the causes for emotional scarring, and allows one to explore, processes, and transform these memories.

Rosy Martins first officially publicized work ran from 15 January 1985 – February 14, 1986, dubbed 'The Picture of Health?', which was a Jo Spence piece made in collaboration with Rosy Martin and Maggie Murray and exhibited in Camerawork, London. The work was meant as a record of Jo Spence's long battle with breast cancer, and showed viewers an insight into the various methods outside of modern medicine Jo Spence used to cope with her struggle.

Prominent works

Inspirations

One of Rosy Martins biggest and most prominent inspirations is her long-time partner Jo Spence. Jo Spence is a British photographer most famous for her cultural work, as well as her contributions to the creation of the practice of Phototherapy. Her meeting and collaboration with Jo Spence is what originally caused Rosy Martin to become interested in the photographic medium. Jo Spence's battle with breast cancer, as well as Jo Spence's prominent implementation of queer and feminist work heavily influenced the way Rosy Martin presents her own work.

Some additional inspirations of Rosy Martin include photographers such as Maggie Murray, Francoise Sergy, and Kay Goodridge.

Education

Installed work

Exhibitions

Publications

References

  1. ↑ Martin, Rosy (1999). "'Too close to Home? Tracing Place". International Feminist Art Journal. V. 3 Body, space, and memory.
  2. ↑ Rosy Martin The Genesis of Re-Enactment Phototherapy
  3. ↑ "The Picture of Health". macba.
  4. ↑ "The Picture of Health?". cockpitarchives.co.uk.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ "Outrageous Agers". Outrageous Agers.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ Martin, Rosy. "Too Close to Home". Too Close To Home.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ↑ Martin, Rosy (2026). "Rosy Martin Overview". The Hyman Collection.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ↑ "A Picture of Health: Jo Spence, a Politics of Disability and Illness".

Further reading