Gabrielle Motola is a photographer, writer, and educator, based in the UK.

Her work explores intimacy, identity, and emotional accountability through photography and reflective text. She recently released her second book, Elūl, a self-published edition shown at Photo London in a landmark showcase by the Photobook Club Collective, where she is a co-director and senior member.

Her background spans psychology, film, and therapeutic photography, with additional training in languages and cross-cultural studies. After three years in Iceland, she published An Equal Difference, a book exploring gender, crisis, and equality in post-2008 Icelandic society.

A core strand of her practice is street portraiture. What began as a personal project, A Fear of People, to confront social anxiety evolved into her “Exposure Therapy” workshops, which help participants reframe fear, build confidence, and use photography as a way to stay present and engage with the world.

Her portrait work has been recognised with one of the Association of Photographers’ highest honours, a Gold Award in Portraiture. A former AOP Board Member and Co-Chair of AOP F22, she continues to advocate for inclusion, equity, and sustainable practice across the industry. She is currently developing Trust in Art Photography: Editioning and Sustainable Practice, a professional guide exploring how photographic art circulates, accrues value, and sustains trust in a reproducible medium – connecting creative integrity with business practice, transparency, and long-term sustainability.