“In my practice, I’ve long explored distance, as well as the limitations of, and possibilities for, connection, intimacy and vulnerability between individuals in relationships. While sheltering in place in Oakland, CA, I began photographing my childhood friend, Lindsay, who lives across the country in Maine. With my camera, through Zoom and our computer screens, I attempt to capture her experience sheltering at home as a new mother feeling confined to a small space both physically and mentally. My hope was to collapse the physical distance between us through mutual conversation and empathy.”

“Despite feeling stifled into domestic space with a narrowed physical world, we discuss how our reflections and introspections have expanded in other ways. As time seems to stand still, life still moves on and we continue to grow. I paired the portraits with photographs that show glimpses of Lindsay’s space as she’s seeing it, or when the screen makes its way into an unplanned corner or window, making me feel like we are actually together, breaking the boundaries of the performative screen and forming a strange closeness I hadn’t considered before this was our only option.”

Anna Rotty lives in Oakland, CA. Growing up in Massachusetts, she received a BFA in photography from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2011. Anna has been part of the San Francisco Artists Studios since 2017 after a month-long residency with One Plus One Plus Two Collective. She is the co-founder of Work in Progress, an art discussion and critique group geared to bring together individuals practicing activism through creative outlets and promoting collaboration and support through the arts. She has recently exhibited in the Bay Area at Flowers Gallery, Incline Gallery and SF Camerawork, as well as at UMass Amherst. Her work has been featured with Stay Home Gallery, Juxtapoz and the Humble Arts Foundation. Community and collaboration is an important part of Anna’s practice.

Anna Rotty: Collapsing the Distance Between Us