Your name
Laura Roth
Place of birth
Carinthia, Austria
Place where you live now
Berlin, Germany
3 words to describe you
Emphatic, curious, attentive
Why do you take pictures?
I like taking photos because it is my tool to draw attention to important issues, such as in my work "Great Expectations", which deals with island issues, rising sea levels and tourism.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Most of my inspiration comes from topics that evoke a sense of urgency within me, as well as memories from my childhood. I primarily get my ideas through research.
Who are your influences?
My surroundings
What determines the subject matter you choose?
The themes of my recent works all have their origins in the topic of isolation.
What impact would you like your art to have?
My goal is to stimulate a discourse with my art and to draw attention to topics visually. I think images can be extremely loud.
What artwork do you never get bored with?
Sculptures and music.
Is there anything you want to add?
No.

Great Expectations
Project statement

Taking the theme of islands as its starting point, the photo series Great Expectations traces a broad arc from paradisaical expectations of island living to tourism in times of the climate crisis. How could island life - which we always associate with a relaxing place of longing - take place in the future? Through a careful look at absurdities, peculiarities and landscapes, a new approach to the island living in its rawness should be created.
Islands are often small places, but with a big impact. In times of rapidly rising sea levels and increasing storms, islands are vulnerable. As new islands emerge, old ones face drowning. A life of uncertainty on sinking paradises and the question about how island life could take part in the future. “Great Expectations” deals with a balance between reality and fiction, between a place of longing and artificial bird chirping.

laura roth
@laurother