HARD WORK | An interview with Ameena Rojee
Exploring the hidden depths of china alone, the recent university graduate Ameena Rojee has created a name for herself. ‘Hard Work’ shows passion, patience and a way of life that’s very much different to the Hollywood films we’ve all seen. It exposes us to a real community and a lifestyle in such an unbelievably fascinating way that we gain a hypnotic and therapeutic trance. We were lucky enough to chat to Ameena and talk about her success with this series.
Hey Ameena, firstly a huge congratulations on the publishing of your photo book with Brown Owl Press, you must be ecstatic! If you wouldn’t mind, can you talk us through your interests, styles and approaches within the photography you produce?
Thank you. Yes, it’s been a crazy and wonderful experience!
It’s always difficult to know where to start when talking about my work - I’m still discovering my style and what I’m interested in, and my practice has always been a very mixed bag. I began using photography very conceptually, but once I got to university I found that I liked to focus on documentary work - I used to feel that as a genre it was more “substantial” than other genres. But then, at the same time, I also used to do a lot of freelance fashion work that I enjoyed immensely.
I am greatly intrigued by culture and people. I have a very mixed heritage (half-Spanish and half-Mauritian), and I was born and grew up in London. Because of this, I experienced an incredible variety of culture as a child which very much influences me and my work today. On top of that, I used to be a very shy child, even around people I was close to. I think that’s part of the reason I now tend to throw myself in the deep end; if I think about things too much, I get nervous. So I just don’t! Nowadays I love to experience new things and get involved as much as possible; I'm a participator, not an observer.
‘Hard Work’ surrounds the ideas of myths and journeys, which make your body of work particularly intriguing. How did you go around creating such an unheard of and strong idea that really connects the viewer to the images?
As a child, I’d always been interested in fantasy and the supernatural, and I just utterly loved watching films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Bruce Lee’s films. I was a bit of an aggressive little girl. I liked fighting and martial arts, and I always liked to try and do things better than the boys. Fast forward to university, where I’d discovered that there were schools in China that would accept foreigners to train in Kung Fu. It sounded like the coolest thing, and it was actually something I’d planned to do post-graduation as a treat.
Unfortunately, my first plan for my final year project fell through; fortunately, I decided quite spontaneously and ambitiously that I would go to China to train in Kung Fu, to satiate my interest in it by exploring the subject, participating in it and making a project around it.
It truly was a journey, although I’ve not thought about it that way. It was my first time travelling alone, my first time in China and, really, my first time doing something this crazy! I was loving it the minute I stepped foot in Heathrow to fly out of England.
Being part of the final year project for university, a lot of research had gone into the work beforehand. However, as soon as I arrived, I pretty much forgot all of it and just went with what felt natural to me. I spent two weeks of the month that I was there getting settled in and used to everything, and doing absolutely no photography as part of the project. I thought about what I wanted to show, what I wanted to shoot, and after two weeks I simply started shooting.
Can you describe ‘Hard Work’ in three words?
Revealing. Unknown. Magic.
How did you find the change between photographing in England and photographing in China? Did you face any problems and most importantly what did you learn? Also, it would be deeply interesting to know how involved you became with the community.
Interesting question. I don’t think I really felt a difference between photographing here in England and in China - of course, the landscape was completely different. In that respect, perhaps I felt more free in China. At home, I live in a town and work in the city, and I find myself regularly missing the intriguing Chinese landscape; the bleak, dry crops, the tall mountains with hand-made, teetering stone stairs, the contrast of dust and healthy, green trees, the rocks with stories and religious literature carved into them…
I didn’t really face any huge problems once I was actually in China, which was a relief. Possibly the biggest problem for me was that I had to leave - not just because I wanted to stay, but because I needed more time to work on my project. I essentially left myself with two weeks to shoot, which was not long enough. By now, I have learnt that I produce better work with more time, and that also I like to work on long-term projects.
In terms of how involved I was with the community, it was 100%. As I said before, I’m a participator, not an observer. I’ve always been this way, to be honest. I like being involved, and if I’m not, I get bored and impatient. It’s been difficult to balance doing project work and being a part of it also, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
‘Hard Work’ has a very topographical with a twist of a documentary aspect to it; can you tell us your artist influences and inspirations that went into creating such beautiful imagery that really does reflect the beauty of the martial arts?
It started out with an intention to focus on concept, to create quite a fine art style series of images focusing on the body and the human condition. It turned into something else entirely once I arrived in China and starting shooting; although I tried not to expect much as I knew it would be different from anything I thought, I found that it was completely different from what I expected anyway, and I wanted to document as much of it as possible.
I like that it has a topographical style to it; I never expected this particular style to come out in my work. When we looked at it in classes, I never really “got it”. Nowadays though, it’s something that I find just happening in my work. I’ve realised that although it’s in my nature to be quite unpredictable and a bit crazy, in my work it’s the opposite. I like balance, parallels and symmetry.
How did you go about creating your photo book? Do you consider the editing of your imagery important, along with the layout and design of the photo book sequencing, and the captions of your images that are really intriguing to me as a viewer, could you go into more detail about that?
I’d never created a photobook before this, although I had worked on making zines. I did a lot of research, and most importantly, I asked the professionals for help. I wrote to several creatives in the industry who I admired and asked them for advice. It was one of the best things I did, and some helped me so much more than I ever expected. It was so inspiring to have this support from professionals!
In terms of the technicalities, the editing, layout, design et cetera, it’s all equally important. It all needs to be right, and that requires research and thought. For example, I came back from China with over 3000 images - the downfall of shooting digital! Plus I have a bit of a trigger finger… Editing that down to around 80 images was extremely hard work.
As to the captions, they’re there to provide a bit of context. Everyone knows the saying that a picture is worth one thousand words; however, I found that with this project I needed and wanted to reveal some of the narrative going on in the images with words. I just feel that without them, it wouldn’t work. But at the same time I didn’t want to disrupt the flow by adding captions under every image. So, I ended up with these little paragraphs, almost like little chapter introductions.
Now that you have produced your own incredible photo book, what advice would you have for others if they were thinking about going in the same route?
1. Like I mentioned above, write to creatives you admire for advice. Write to as many as you can, and try and meet up with them to show them your work in person. You’ll get some great advice, and could end up with a wonderful connection or friend.
2. Always, always get others to look at your work. Fresh eyes are so important; when working on putting the images together for the book, I had such bad tunnel vision that I had an experience similar to when you repeat a word so much that it loses meaning. Get as many other people to look at your work as possible, and collect their feedback. Give yourself time away from your images too.
3. Don’t forget that presentation is just as important as the photography. It should be right for your work, and show your photographs in the best possible light. Try and get a designer, or use your friends if there’s a designer among them!
4. Finally, look at the work of others. Find work that you like, figure out why you like it or maybe don’t like it. Find what inspires you and makes you tick.
After all your success with ‘Hard Work’, what other exciting things can we expect from you in the future? Has ‘Hard Work’ inspired any further work?
It’s actually a bit of a secret at the moment. What I can say is that I’m hoping to go back to China to further continue and develop the project, but in the meantime I’ve got some
short-term projects that I plan to carry out very soon. As for details, you’ll have to wait and see!
Check out Ameenas website and buy the book here
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