Female sports social documentary photographer secures place on season 3 of Sky Arts 'Master of Photography'

A photographer from Liverpool has secured a place as a contestant on the popular Sky Arts show Master of Photography. With a portfolio focusing that focuses on the contemporary working-class of Britain, Danyelle Rolla, managed to beat off thousands of photographers from all across Europe to be selected as one of the ten contestants in Season 3. A regular at grassroots football games, Danyelle Rolla, will look to use her photographic skills and abilities to progress through the series in hopes of winning the €100,000 prize money.

Sky Arts Master of Photography is a competition run over 8 weeks and 8 episodes in which ten contestants compete to convince a jury of internationally renowned photographers and industry experts that they have the skill, instinct and versatility to become the next Sky Arts Master of Photography.

The winner will take home €100,000 – the largest prize money of any photography competition. Joining Oliviero Toscani on the judging panel are curator Mark Sealy MBE and Elisabeth Biondi, visuals editor of The New Yorker. The show will air in five countries through Europe.

Danyelle Rolla (real name Danyelle Farrell) originally from Norris Green, Liverpool now lives in Boston, Lincolnshire. Her journey into photography began when she joined the armed forces in 2002 and enlisted as a Royal Air Force photographer. During her 8 years in the military, Danyelle severed in various areas of conflict including Northern Ireland and Iraq. She left the forces in 2010 where she began her own practice documenting the class system within modern day Britain and its relationship to sports. She uses her skill to challenge negative attitudes towards the working-classes often depicted in right wing media outlets. In 2017 she completed a Masters Degree in Norwich University of the Arts. She also teaches photography part-time at Boston College. Danyelle is a life-long Liverpool fan.

“Being selected for the show was amazing. I could not believe that such prolific people in the industry selected my portfolio as one of the top ten in Europe. It is important that I use this opportunity as best I can to promote the work I do and the people I photograph.

“The platform this show can offer will allow me to promote more women engaging in sports documentary. It is a lonely place sometimes as a women.

“I cannot wait to start this journey. I just hope I can do myself and my city proud.”, Danyelle said.