Irina Rozovsky lives and work in the US.

– Home and studio — together or apart?
Up until 6 years ago my “studio” was always in my home, which was usually a small apartment with work prints constantly in my face, hanging next to the bed, the kitchen table. Since moving to Georgia, I make a lot of pictures at home but now have a studio down the street that I can walk to and get lost in–there is space to spread out and lose track of time.

– Do you have any daily rituals?
I like to vacuum, if even a little. A futile gesture to organize the chaos of life. If there was a street vacuum to pick up trash, I’d definitely be walking that around.

– What is the first art book you remember?
Honestly, it was a coffee table book of Annie Leibowitz portraits someone gave my family when I was 9. Lauren Hutton lying naked in mud, Whoopi Goldberg submerged in milk, and many others–I don’t like them at all but am somehow beholden to those photos and early encounters with the human body.

– What is your studio/creative soundtrack?
I don’t tend to listen to music in the studio, it’s kind of thinking time. But always when I drive, especially to shoots. Fiona Apple, Orchestra Baobab, Harry Nilsson, many others, and if my kid’s in the car, there’s always the demand for the Sound of Music soundtrack.

– What is the favorite thing you have in your studio?
Air conditioning and a magnetic board to pin up prints. But most of all the thing you see in the picture to the left!

– Did you always want to be an artist?
Never, ever imagined it. I always liked to write stories and thought I was meant to do something with languages. But it turned out it was with the camera that I actually had something to say and a most natural way to be.

– What does a free day look like?
Hard to say what a free day is when you’re self employed–but prob means there are no doctors appointments to schedule, no bills to contest, no groceries runs to make, the food cooks itself, the dishes wash themselves, and we can spend a day lounging on a blanket by a lake and then go to the movies.

books & objects