Studio Augusto

We are honoured! For Session 2 of Home Ground, we welcome André Anderson — founder and Headmaster of Freedom & Balance (@freedom_balance ), the 'art college for the artist in everyone,' and the mind behind Authors of the Estate. If you don't know the work, please get to know it. A decade ago, André set out to turn a council house on St Raphael's into a publishing house. Twenty-two authors and one Chalkhill chapter later, that idea is a book, a film, and a movement. André's work asks the questions we want our young documentarians to sit with: who gets to tell which stories? On 14 May, he'll be with the group to talk about authorship and the process of telling one's story. We couldn't think of anyone we'd rather have open this conversation. — Home Ground · A New Mitcham Archive Studio Augusto x Merton Council Youth Services Funded by @mertoncouncil #HomeGround #Mitcham #FreedomAndBalance #AuthorsOfTheEstate #YouthVoice #Photovoice #MertonCulture

A new project, HOME GROUND! Part of @merton_council and the Culture & Heritage Grants Programme (@heritagefunduk ), this project marries two things imnpassionate about, youth voice and art, with a sprinkle of creative health and disruption! Thank you to: Tara & Paige from @merton_council Majeed from @pollardshill.yc Mark Warren Omar Mahon from @omar1barber Andre Anderson from @freedom_balance Sofia Akel from @freebookscampaign

Responding to the commission theme, Catalysts, I created a series of triptychs depicting seven Oxford academics whose research shifts understanding in fields ranging from widening participation to epidemiology, education research and global health. Each triptych explores TRACE—the forces, experiences, or spaces that shape transformative work—and RIPPLE—the wider consequences of that catalyst. Dr Samina Khan’s work is shaped by the fundamental mysteries of pregnancy at the cellular level—understanding why the mother’s immune system doesn’t reject the developing foetus. Her research into immune tolerance ripples toward new treatments for pre-eclampsia and pregnancy complications, transforming maternal health outcomes worldwide. TRACE: Understanding Immune Tolerance in Pregnancy RIPPLE: Transforming Maternal Health Outcomes Worldwide From What Settles in the Light, my @bodleianlibs commission. Now part of the permanent portraiture collection. Oxford, 2025 - Commissioned by: @_zoeharrison & @sinead.solo Photo assist: @aniellaweinberger Handprint: @labyrinth_cos / @labyrinthphotographicprinting

Don’t Close the Door Behind You, 2025 Dr Samina Khan, Director for Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach “I’m actually an organic chemist, so I have a definition for being a catalyst,” Dr Samina Khan tells me, before offering something far more personal: spaces that bring different ways of thinking together, helping everyone reach where they want to go faster. Three years old, arriving from Pakistan to Leicester’s Highfields, her father insisting education remains your foundation no matter what. Now directing Oxford’s Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach, she’s transformed how the university engages communities—not waiting for them to come to Oxford’s doorstep but going to Bradford, Oldham, Birmingham, Cornwall. What makes her heart sing? That medical student approaching her in Bradford: “I saw that South Asian woman and thought, so can I.” One Saturday morning. One profound ripple. Her only request to those reaching Oxford: don’t close the door behind you. Part of What Settles in the Light — a @britishjournal and @bodleianlibs commission creating portraits that enter a collection spanning 988–2025, addressing diversity gaps whilst capturing pivotal forces driving global impact. #WhatSettlesInTheLight #Delphianopencall2026 @delphiangallery

Francis Augusto, one of the artists working with our Culturally Mindful programme, has been working with carers at @wandsworthcarerscentre . "All of them spoke about how much of an impact a space like this has had, on their confidence, their feeling of connection with other carers, and how important it is to be able to come to a space like this to feel safe." - Francis Francis has created a safe space for the carers to open up and exercise their creativity. The project will culminate in a zine encompassing all the carers' creative work. Part of Wandsworth’s London Borough of Culture programme, Culturally Mindful brings together Global Majority artists, healthcare providers, and grassroots organisations to co-design new approaches to health and wellbeing support. 🔗To find out more about Culturally Mindful, visit the link in our bio.

Responding to the commission theme, Catalysts, I created a series of triptychs depicting seven Oxford academics whose research shifts understanding in fields ranging from widening participation to epidemiology, education research and global health. Each triptych explores TRACE—the forces, experiences, or spaces that shape transformative work—and RIPPLE—the wider consequences of that catalyst. Professor Nandini Das’s work is shaped by archives holding silenced histories from Britain’s earliest encounters with the wider world. Her recovery of these lost voices ripples forward, fundamentally reshaping how we understand British identity and belonging—challenging the notion that diversity is a recent phenomenon. TRACE: Archives Holding Silenced Histories RIPPLE: Rewriting the Narrative of British Identity From What Settles in the Light, my @bodleianlibs commission. Now part of the permanent portraiture collection. Oxford, 2025 - Commissioned by: @_zoeharrison & @sinead.solo Photo assist: @aniellaweinberger Handprint: @labyrinth_cos / @labyrinthphotographicprinting

History Is a Narrative, 2025 Professor Nandini Das, Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture We could have talked for hours. Professor Nandini Das moves between worlds with such fluidity—from sixteenth-century Portuguese-held Goa to contemporary Oxford, from technical discussions about Renaissance literature to intimate reflections on code-switching and belonging. Born in West Bengal where English literature became a colonial tool, she now excavates stories of trans-culturality: “It’s not simply two cultures meeting each other. It’s about people navigating two or three different things at the same time”—creating something neither one heritage nor the other but entirely new. Photographed in her tutor room at Exeter College, I was thinking about historical portraits already in the collection—those contemplative poses, hand to face, figures lost in thought across centuries. That gesture connects her to the intellectual tradition she both inhabits and interrogates. Her British Academy Prize-winning Courting India traces how England’s relationship with Mughal India shaped empire’s origins. What struck me most: how she embodies her research—moving between languages and contexts, understanding that knowledge itself travels, transforms, refuses to stay still. Part of “What Settles in the Light” series, a commissioned project for @britishjournal and @bodleianlibraries Commissioned by: @_zoeharrison & @sinead.solo Photo assist: @aniellaweinberger Handprint: @labyrinth_cos / @labyrinthphotographicprinting #WhatSettlesInTheLight #Delphianopencall2026 @delphiangallery

Wrapping up my placement with @wandsworthcarerscentre through the Culturally Mindful programme—and carrying one lesson above all: the work can’t be what I want it to look like. It has to be what participants need from me. For carers managing overwhelming responsibilities in silence, creative health isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about being heard and relief. It’s been an amazing time with them, below are some reflections from them that has stayed with me: “To be able to express what we are thinking, sharing our daily struggles, has lifted some weight off my shoulders.” “Carers feel deep pain & it is largely unheard... A new paradigm is needed.” “Painting pulled me out of the web of my thoughts and brought me back into the present moment.” We’re ending with zine-making—DIY publishing that hands the author role back to them. Not just a booklet, but a record of what we built together, on their terms. This isn’t the end of the work, but a new chapter in how I approach my practice: with more listening, more flexibility, and a deeper commitment to being led by the people whose stories I want tell or document.

Responding to the commission theme, Catalysts, I created a series of triptychs depicting seven Oxford academics whose research shifts understanding in fields ranging from widening participation to epidemiology, education research and global health. Each triptych explores TRACE—the forces, experiences, or spaces that shape transformative work—and RIPPLE—the wider consequences of that catalyst. Dr Anne Makena and Professor Kevin Marsh’s work is shaped by decades of patient observation of severe malaria in African children at KEMRI-Wellcome Trust in Kenya—a partnership built on mutual respect and shared purpose. Their research ripples into clinical guidelines that protect thousands of young lives annually across malaria-endemic regions. TRACE: Decades Understanding Severe Malaria RIPPLE: Clinical Protocols Saving Children’s Lives From What Settles in the Light, my Bodleian Libraries commission. Oxford, 2025 - Commissioned by: @_zoeharrison & @sinead.solo Photo assist: @aniellaweinberger Handprint: @labyrinth_cos / @labyrinthphotographicprinting

“It’s Bigger Than Oxford” Dr Anne Makena & Professor Kevin Marsh “How I got into this position is fluke,” Anne Makena laughs, recalling meeting Kevin Marsh at a 2015 conference. But nothing about the Africa Oxford Initiative they built together feels accidental. Anne, finishing her DPhil and knowing Oxford’s barriers firsthand. Kevin, returning after 25 years leading research in Kenya. They approached the same problem from opposite directions and arrived at identical conclusions: Oxford’s collaborations with Africa were happening everywhere, but no one could see what others were doing. Even the naming was deliberate: AfOx, not OxAfrica—acknowledging that Africa is, as Kevin notes with characteristic understatement, somewhat bigger than Oxford. Their fellowship programme grew from three places to 24. Now India Oxford, Caribbean Oxford, and Pakistan Oxford emerge from the same ethos. Photographed together in the Clarendon Building’s warm light, their partnership is evident: eight years rebalancing power in global knowledge production, making systemic change replicable. Part of What Settles in the Light for @britishjournal and @bodleianlibs — exploring catalysts who drive transformative, long-term impact. - Commissioned by: @bjp1854 & @bodleianlibraries @_zoeharrison & @sinead.solo Photo assist: @aniellaweinberger Handprint: @labyrinth_cos / @labyrinthphotographicprinting

Responding to the commission theme, Catalysts, I created a series of triptychs depicting seven Oxford academics whose research shifts understanding in fields ranging from widening participation to epidemiology, education research and global health. Each triptych explores TRACE—the forces, experiences, or spaces that shape transformative work—and RIPPLE—the wider consequences of that catalyst. Professor Steve Strand’s work is shaped by four decades of painstaking educational data—evidence that moves beyond assumptions to reveal the systemic barriers causing inequality. That irrefutable evidence ripples through national policy reforms, affecting millions of students who will never know his name. TRACE: Four Decades of Educational Data RIPPLE: Policy Changes Affecting Millions From What Settles in the Light, my Bodleian Libraries commission. Check link in bio for full gallery. Oxford, 2025 - Commissioned by: @_zoeharrison & @sinead.solo Photo assist: @aniellaweinberger Handprint: @labyrinth_cos / @labyrinthphotographicprinting

Decades of Questions Professor Steve Strand OBE, Professor of Education, St Cross College Professor Steve Strand has spent four decades asking uncomfortable questions about who succeeds in British education, and why. His research influences House of Commons inquiries and challenges governmental assumptions about educational inequality. “If research hasn’t got direct implications for practice or policy, then what’s the point?” It’s not abstract for someone who nearly failed his A-levels before discovering academic purpose at Plymouth Polytechnic. His work demonstrates truths policymakers resist: educational failures aren’t school problems but social ones. No amount of academy restructuring compensates for unemployment, inadequate housing, fragmented communities. Photographed in his workspace—doctoral gown hanging behind him like scholars in centuries of Bodleian portraits—he represents patient accumulation. Decades of findings that shift policy conversations incrementally but meaningfully. The kind of catalyst whose work creates foundations others might not even recognise they’re building upon. Part of What Settles in the Light — portraits entering @bodleianlibraries ’ permanent collection alongside Henry VIII, Mary Queen of Scots, and Seamus Heaney. Commissioned by: @bjp1854 @_zoeharrison & @sinead.solo Photo assist: @aniellaweinberger Handprint: @labyrinth_cos / @labyrinthphotographicprinting