Inès Elsa Dalal

Born in Nottingham to a Swiss, Italian mother & German, Danish, Parsi (Iranian-Indian) father, I spent my formative years in Birmingham and am currently based in London. I pride myself on working in a way that prioritises the portrait sitter’s comfort, holding space to co-create and connect meaningfully.

Summer 2011, I returned to Birmingham after graduating from Manchester School of Art. Deeply moved by the five days of uprisings across England which took place in the second week of August, in response to Mark Duggan's being murder by police. I proceeded to photograph borough across Birmingham: intentionally highlighting Black and Brown communities to confront and counteract negative, dehumanising narratives of anti-Blackness and Islamaphobia; which continue to dominate mainstream media to this day. Witnessing those uprisings and the way it was reported made me reconsider: who am I photographing, and why?

Since then, I’ve been working with pioneers of the Windrush Generation. In 2013 I began to co-create portraits of war veterans, which resulted in debut, self-initiated solo exhibition: ‘West Indies to West Midlands’ (2014-2015). Subsequently, In 2018, I was commissioned by the NHS to photograph nurses healthcare professionals, to produce an oral history archive to accompany the portait series. During a five year time span (2018-2023), ‘Here To Stay’ toured to fifteen locations across London, Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. The portraits remain on permanent display at Sandwell Hospital Education Centre, in West Bromwich. In recent years I’ve organised one of three panel discussions intended to create a safe space for portrait sitters to share their lived experiences, following a solo exhibition at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Outside of the UK, I have independently photographed daily life in Palestine (2011), Dubai & Abu Dhabi (2012). 2015-2016 director Remani McKenzie collaborated to film and co-edit our debut feature length documentary. Following a sold out world premiere in Birmingham, the film was screened in Cape Town, Soweto and Johannesburg (South Africa). In 2017, I was commissioned to work on a project funded by the British Council, produced in partnership with Delhi Photo Festival. In 2018, I sequenced and edited and distributed photobook ‘Várzea‘ in São Paulo and Belo Horizonte (Brazil).

In 2024 I am continuing to work on self-initiated projects centred on social justice, presently advocating workers’ rights to rest, fair pay and safe work environments through exhibition ‘Unreported Uprisings’ at NOW Gallery, London: 10th October - 17th November.