Gem Fletcher chats to Rose Marie Cromwell. The Miami-based artist whose work is rooted in the language of documentary photography but subverts many of its tropes by creating tension between the real and the fabricated, the autobiographical and the political to convey lyrical stories about contemporary life, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean. While her photographs critically address issues of politics, economic injustice, and environmentalism, she takes a sidelong approach, revealing how these powerful forces subtly manifest in the built environment or the human body. Though they depict everyday objects and commonplace scenes, her photographs often verge on abstraction to express dreamlike states and a sense of disorientation in the face of globalization.

Throughout the episode we traverse three bodies of work including El Libro Supremo de la Suerte - a portrayal of Cuba created over eight years that continues defying expectations and interpretations. King of Fish, a ten-year project about a community living alongside the Panama canal and Eclipse, a study of the physical, psychological, and spiritual changes of motherhood.

In the episode we talk about everything from visual strategies, the role of place and time, building long term collaborations, authorship and the role of photobooks in her practice.

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