Artist embraces unease of being photographed in Shoreditch exhibition
Dianne Minnicucci, from the series Belonging and Beyond, 2025. Photograph: courtesy the artist
How do you feel when posing for a photograph? Hyper aware of how your body is positioned? Unsure exactly where to look?
In a new exhibition at Shoreditch gallery Autograph, artist Dianne Minnicucci explores how the vulnerability and discomfort we sometimes feel when faced with a camera can lead to self-discovery.
In Belonging and Beyond, Minnicucci confronts the unease of being photographed by allowing these moments of certainty to form the basis of a series of portraits of herself and her young son.
Set within the ancient woodland of Abbey Wood in south London, the poetic black-and-white images foreground Minnicucci’s roles as artist, mother and teacher.
Layers of light and fragmentation draw attention to subtle shifts in body language, inviting viewers to consider what it means to be truly vulnerable.
As gestures slip behind leaves or linger in dappled light, the artist asks: what does it mean to be unguarded? What do we reveal of ourselves to each other?
Central to Belonging and Beyond is Minnicucci’s role as a secondary school photography teacher. For six months, she brought her studio into the classroom, challenging traditional student-teacher hierarchies.
By merging teaching and the act of making photographs, the studio was redefined – no longer a solitary space, but one of shared dialogue and inquiry.
Minnicucci encouraged her students to embrace discomfort in their creative process, and she, in turn, did the same.
She said: “I see them not just as my students, but as collaborators. Bringing my photographic practice into the classroom created a dynamic space where we could share and grow together as makers, exchanging ideas through open and honest conversation.”
Belonging and Beyond by Dianne Minnicucci runs until 13 September 2025 at Autograph.