Two Projects in The Making

Since finishing Mirage (finished to the point that it’s a small body of work, I fully intend to go back and expand on it!) I’ve had an itching to push myself and my practice.

Throughout my practice, before my hiatus, I focused on Black & White imaging in all its forms from capture in digital and film through to output in silver gelatine wet prints, specialised inkjet printing and historical print process (think platinum, kallitype, salt printing etc).

I decided I wanted too work on a project where I only shot exclusively in colour & photographed humans (and human companions) as well! Yes, portraits have never informed my practice either- but I really wanted to bring this element into the project.

So, a quick introduction to Fruits of Their Labour.

The body of work will look at Urban Growing spaces in and around Manchester. The spaces are usually situated in odd or unusual spaces like industrial complexes, roof top car parks, shopping centres or tucked away in the back yard of builds in urban centres.

Through the body of work I would like to celebrate the people who created them, the communities that keep them alive (and the ones they support) and the biodiversity they promote. Whilst also investigating the space in which they are situated… each space will tell its own story, of how it came to be, where it’s headed and why people engage with it.

The other body of work that I’m currently working on is a lot slower and more inline with my practice- rather than something radically different to challenge myself & explore other facets of photography.

The working title is Three Rivers (subject to change!) and follows the rivers Goyt & Tame from their sources in the Peak District to Stockport, where they merge to create the Mersey. I will then follow the flow of the Mersey to its departure into the Irish Sea in Liverpool.

Throughout the journeys I will be meditating on the industrial heritage these rivers have created and investigating the legacy of this heritage in post industrial environments of the Northwest.

The body of work will also tell a tale of how natural processes and phenomena have created the legacy mentioned above and how that legacy has influenced the climate crisis.

This project is tentatively linked to Mirage in the way that the same weather system that is causing a drought in Morocco is also responsible for creating the rivers, in turn is responsible for the Industrial Revolution.

So there we have it!

Intentions laid down- subscribe to my newsletter (bottom of page in footer) to follow my the development of both projects.