Five Myles Gallery

Photographs by Ann Rosen

Curated by Charlotta

July 8 - August 13, 2023

In Part I of Ann Rosen’s portraiture project, Being Seen, the photographs were taken during art and photography workshops she conducted with women living in shelters in various cities in the United States. The women collaborated with Rosen on their portraits which reflect the way they wanted to be seen—with strength and grace—but also reveal the instability, uncertainty and complexity connected with shelter living.

As the Being Seen project expanded, Rosen conducted similar workshops with women who were formerly homeless, veterans, or formerly incarcerated. These women are currently part of a program facilitated by a Brooklyn non-profit, HousingPlus. The images embody a personal power they work to achieve on a daily basis. In Rochester, NY, through the assistance of Catholic Charities, an organization that helps refugees around the world find safe haven, Rosen captured images of Afghan women who fled to the United States in 2021 when the Taliban swept into Kabul. Her subjects portray a personal authority as they wrestle with the hardships of holding onto their traditions while living in a new country.

The resulting images from the Being Seen project are accompanied by personal histories. Combined with the photographs, these stories foster compassion, thus aiding these women to reach renewed agency.