India Tomalin Personal Work
Projects
‘My Trousseau’
Ongoing
‘Strangers’
2025
‘Hidden Roots’
2025
‘Soaking in Nature’
2024
Other Works
‘My Trousseau’
Ongoing
My Trousseau is an ongoing body of work which surrounds the topic of growing up and growing out. As an only child, parents hold more than just the role of carer. My mum is my best friend before she is my mother, so thinking about moving out and away from her is an emotional battle for both of us.
The title of this project stems from the concept of a bottom drawer, also known as a trousseau—a collection of clothing, linens, and personal items a bride gathers for her marriage, traditionally stored in a chest or drawer. This became a way that my mum and I silently communicated about the idea of me moving out.
This project slowly led me to the core reason behind it, which I didn’t fully understand until I was deep into the process of making the work. It brought up strong emotions, becoming a form of memorial. As an only child, my parents are my closest relatives, and they have been there throughout every stage of my life. Knowing that one day I will lose the most important people in my life is heartbreaking and brings up so many emotions. This project has become a way for me to work through this pain and talk about it with my parents.
Through this process, I have been writing to both of my parents through postal letters, which has allowed us to open up and express how we feel without hiding behind metaphors. I have also created a quilt that holds the special moments we have shared together in the form of cyanotypes. This quilt acts as a source of comfort for each of us when we are missing one another. There is currently only one, but there will soon be a second so that when I do move out, I will have one too.
This project will continue alongside me as I move through different stages of my life.
‘Strangers’
2025
Strangers is a body of work that I made to build up my confidence in photographing people I didn’t know. This project was therefore a challenge for me, but it allowed me to meet many amazing people with interesting stories. It also gave me time to develop my portraiture skills and experiment with different cameras.
I started by walking along the river and asking people if they would like to be photographed and share a bit about themselves. Talking to people during this process is what allowed me to slow down and take time with each photograph.
Later in the project, I built up the confidence to ask people if I could go into their homes and learn more about their stories. This allowed me to spend more time capturing the right photograph.
Overall, this project was a turning point in my practice.
‘Hidden Roots’
2025
“I consider myself truly fortunate to have my mum as my best friend. She is my rock - always there through my laughter and my tears, offering me unwavering support. She is my ultimate inspiration, I wouldn’t be who I am today without her to guide me through life. My mum never said that I couldn’t do whatever I wanted to do or be whoever I wanted to be and that’s something I will never take for granted, but I don’t think she realises that the person I most want to be is her, a strong, resilient, and beautiful woman.”
Hidden Roots is a body of work about my mum and her past. She was adopted and brought to England from Canada, and lost her adoptive mum when she was 18. A lot of this has always felt quite hidden, but it’s shaped who she is and the way she’s loved and raised me. To me, she’s the strongest and most inspiring person I know.
This project was difficult for both of us. It brought up things that aren’t easy to talk about, but it also helped us understand each other more and brought us closer in a way we hadn’t been before.
Animals have always been a constant in her life, and that’s something I’ve carried through in this work. The way she connects with them feels natural, and I wanted to show that side of her—the quiet, caring part that’s always been there.
‘Soaking in Nature’
2024
This project came from wanting to show how cold water swimming can have a really positive effect, not just physically but mentally, and how the community around it becomes such an important part of that.
There’s a sense of poetry running through the photographs, which felt natural to the experience. In the book, two poems sit alongside the images—one by Stephen Selby, and one written by me—both reflecting that feeling in different ways.
I also wanted to connect this to other people who share that same relationship with cold water, so at the end of the book there are two personal statements from swimmers I reached out to. It felt important that it wasn’t just my perspective.
