Emily Garthwaite first picked up a camera at 14, borrowing her mother’s to capture her friends and family in her home county of Surrey. What for many is an amusing pastime, quickly manifested into an all-consuming passion. One which has taken her from the rolling hills of the English countryside to all over the world.
When asked to describe her work she articulates herself with such ease, clear and unyielding in her objective, ‘‘It’s humanistic. Colourful. Soft and sometimes melancholic. Storytelling. At its heart, Kind.” Yet you don’t need to be told this to grasp the sheer level of compassion in her images.
One of her most potent projects is Tears of the Tigris, an ongoing body of work that documents life along Iraq’s Tigris River. She shares how the project took two years of meticulous planning, three months of travelling and another two years to fully process the intense and sometimes painful experiences, ‘Much of my time in Iraq profoundly influenced me, both as a photographer and as a person. Having moved there in my mid-20s and residing for over six years, I immersed myself fully in its life and stories. I had an extraordinary encounter with the Bakhtiari nomads in Iran, where we remained out of signal for 16 days while walking across the Zagros mountain range. That was particularly fulfilling – pure heaven.’
Her latest project is a mediation on the culture and craft that thrives in Marrakesh. Different from Garthwaite’s usual work, these stills offer a raw and fascinating look into the Moroccan art and craft trades. Featuring intimate candids of local artisans and detailed close-ups of raw materials, the images emphasise the beauty of the process and invite us to look beyond the finished product. Sticking to a pastel-hued palette reminiscent of the country’s long warm days, the photographer playfully experiments with shadows, shapes and textures.
For this body of work, Garthwaite travelled to Marrakesh during the 2025 1-54 art fair. The four-day event exhibits large and small works including paintings, textile art, sculptures, photographs and drawings. Collectors and museum curators travel from around the globe to attend and explore the African art world.
‘The whole city was awash with exhibitions and public installations. It was beautiful to witness the process at Beni Rugs, from start, to finish. The yarn is dyed naturally to achieve the desired colours and then woven or knotted into the design by Moroccan women artisans using a loom at the studio. The process is labour intensive, especially for hand-knotted rugs where each knot is tied individually. Once the weaving is complete, the rug is cut from the loom, washed outside and left to hang in the public courtyard. Once dried, the team tends to each rug, trimming or binding the edges.’
Despite her portfolio being an impressive, almost intimidating collection of extraordinary places and stories, her inspirations are surprisingly modest, ‘Kitchen-table conversations and good food. Storytelling around fires. My brilliant friends. Humour and great writing.’ It all ties into her philosophy: when you feel good, creativity flows. That being said, her process is far from casual. The time, effort and dedication she puts into her craft is both commendable and inspiring. From studying archives dating back to the early 1900s, to throwing herself firsthand into emotionally challenging stories, she captures the world with rare depth and integrity.
WORDS CREDIT: Farah Thorndycraft
