Roberto Rubalcava (b. 1969) is a photographer from Mexico, currently living and working in London. He sees his work as a long journey of self-discovery - a therapeutic process which he uses to come to terms with the events, emotions and circumstances which have impacted his life. Influenced heavily by his training as a yoga teacher, his photographic practise can be viewed as a moving meditation - an attempt to return to the centre and discover the essence of himself.

Rubalcava is fascinated by the dramatic interplay of light and shadow as he captures the atmospheric qualities of isolated and derelict spaces. His dark and minimalist images constitute a complex collection of thoughts and memories taken mostly on lonely walks at night during trips across Europe, to Japan and back to his home country of Mexico. Oscillating between the grotesque and the reverent, his perspective is influenced by the brutality and drama of Catholic imagery that defined his upbringing as well as feelings of disillusionment, hope and grief which have shaped his adulthood.

After spending his early career as a journalist in Mexico, Rubalcava moved to New York to work as a fashion photographer for over fifteen years. Influenced by this experience, his early portraits of ethereal figures at dreamy lakesides have a seductive, painterly quality. Whilst comfortable in his ability to photograph beautiful people wearing clothes in an artistic way, he felt there was something superficial in the fantasy world he was creating. Eventually, he stripped everything down and returned to shooting on film. Going back to basics has allowed him to find value in seeking out a grittier and more honest understanding of beauty, witnessed in his recent series Away from the Light (2015-2020) and Naoko (2019).