Yvonne De Rosa

Hidden Identities Unfinished documents part of an ongoing project with Hope and Homes for Children, an international charity that works to prevent the breakdown of families and to ensure children grow up in a loving environment. The charity’s cofounder, Mark Cook, invited London-based Italian photographer Yvonne De Rosa (born 1975) to meet some of the orphans he was working with in his attempt to transition them from “hidden identities” to respected and recognized human beings. For Hidden Identities Unfinished, De Rosa decided to create two particular case studies: children in Bosnia and Romania. Her photographs powerfully communicate the strength of character these children have developed--their sense of personal pride, community spirit and human kindness. Sam Taylor-Wood contributes an introduction to the book.

During the 1990s the Italian-born, London-based photographer Yvonne De Rosa volunteered in an old psychiatric hospital. Six years after it closed down, she returned to its decaying rooms and corridors to document the void left by the inpatients. The result is this touching study.