Sylvie Belbouab is a photographer who has lived in Newham for 20 years and took part in our Artist Accelerator scheme. Originally from Nantes in France, she became interested in photography as a teenager. At the age of 13, she joined her local photo-club to practise photography and learn how to process film. Inspired by humanist photographers such as Robert Doisneau and Cartier Bresson, she is most interested in portraits and capturing people’s unique stories. Living in Newham has enabled her to come into contact and befriend people from all over the world and she feels that the borough has a lot to offer in terms of talent, skills and stories. She enjoys street photography and often photographs protests as she believes art is a medium we can use to fight for what we believe in. A few years ago, she completed a diploma in photography at Rosetta Arts and became more interested in documenting the lives of people who live in the borough, starting a project called Stories from Newham. She hopes the project will demonstrate the value of diversity as something to be celebrated. She is hoping to continue this project and expand it by delivering workshops in the community with the help of the Artist Accelerator.
Instagram: @gbs10_portrait
