Weeds & Wildflowers
These botanical prints / photograms were created from weeds & wildflowers that I have gathered locally from hedgerows, meadows and gardens in and around Totnes, Devon.
I started experimenting photograms whilst studying an MA in Documentary Photography & Photojournalism at UAL. My research was on biodiversity loss, the plight of flowers and plants and the impact of their loss on a fragile ecosystem. This ongoing series celebrates the unique character of our local flora & fauna and calls for wilder communities and gardens.
Lost Meadows
In 2021 I completed the MA. My major project 'Lost Meadows' explores biodiversity loss in the UK. I used a variety of alternative photography methods, including photograms similar to those above and more traditional portraits. These abstract, contaminated prints received an honourable mention in the 17th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards and were exhibited in Barcelona Biennale in November 2022.
These impressionistic images of wildflower meadows are an abstract illustration of pesticide contamination on the landscape. The visual obliteration of the flowers is symbolic of the contamination of our wild plants & landscapes. Farmland flowers are estimated to have declined by 96% in 200 years. The visual style is evocative of 19th century painting and echoes a period pre-dating the destruction of our meadows. In a brief span of time, the short window of history since then, we have destroyed so much of the natural world.
