Sydney Rahimtoola, she/her  
(USA/NL) 

Sydney is American photographer and artist, living and working alternatively between the United States and the Netherlands. After studying Music and Studio Art in New York City, she obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Photography at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague in 2018.  

Syd is interested in photographic outputs that create more visual empathy towards black and brown lives. Understanding that throughout history, lens-based mediums have had a problematic relationship with the politics of representation. They have been complicit in constructing the image of “the other.” And, they have left little room to visualise the personal history & complexities of non-white identities.  

Her starting point therefore come from personal narratives of her own or in her immediate environment of family, friends, and strangers. She specifically focuses on the histories and complexities from home and family hood because it is one of the most intimate and telling aspects of a person. Intersected and rooted from my heritage of the Dominican Republic and India. 

Syd has exhibited at the Hunter MFA Building (New York), Bourse du Travail Arles for FOAM Museum (France), WORM (Rotterdam), LhGWR (Den Haag), Dutch Design Week (Eindhoven), Fotomuseum Winterthur (Switzerland), just to name a few. She has also been a guest curator for the Noorderlicht International Photography Festival (2020) and is programmer/creative director of ‘New Year New Me’ at WORM (Rotterdam). Her clients for assignments have included MCQ, Melkweg, Spinnin’ Records, Syd + Pia NYC, the Royal Academy of Art The Hague, Tilburg Textile Museum, EXTRA EXTRA, Yamuna Forzani, and Metro54. 

Currently: 
Stimuleringsfonds Creative Industries | Talent Development Recipient (2020-2021)