india mae alby

Two years ago, I started rollerskating and it has become half my life, at the very least! The rollerskating scene in London deeply inspires me as a photographer and I am very proud of myself for learning to take great photos on eight wheels. All of life’s passion, purpose, community, self-love and ambition can be found within London’s rollerskating scene.


I have created and exhibited one project about the skate scene, called ‘Rolling Distance’. I won £500 worth of film and film equpiment from an Ilford Community Grant in 2023 to create my second skating project, ‘The London Rollerskating Scene’, which I am still making. And I have taken thousands of images of rollerskaters in London, some of which are showcased below.

— PROJECT NAME

Rolling Distance


— DATE

2022

This is a long-term multisensory project about Rolling Distance, a group of skaters who meet twice a week in Sainsbury’s Merton car park to rollerskate and socialise together


To rethink my photographic practice, I made a short film and a Top-Trumps style card game about the skaters. I also joined the community and learnt to skate to immerse myself in the emotion and spirit I was trying to capture. This experience has changed my relationship with my local area, my cultural identity and my body. Totally embracing newness, physical movement and childish fun allowed me to capture how Londoners, especially Black Londoners, escape the miseries of capitalism using very few tools