Terminology…
27 April:
The current title for my PhD Is: Rivercideotypes - an exploration into phytoremediation and abstract photographic art as a mediator between river health and human need.
But what does Rivercideotypes mean? It’s a term I’ve created (well, I’ve not seen it elsewhere) inspired by the documentary ‘Rivercide’ directed by Franny Armstrong and presented by George Monbiot in 2021, with cide a Latin suffix that means killing. It seems apt in the context of what humans do to rivers. The ‘otype’ simply refers to the photographic processes that may be used in the practical aspects of abstract art creation: cyan-otype; anth-otype.
We know words have power. And, apparently, a photo is worth a thousand words. Rivercideotypes will give the power back to the river through photography.
Within my photographic practice, I battle constantly with my desire to make work that tells intriguing stories about environmental matters and my use of a creative medium embroiled in extractive practices, historically and currently. I’m grappling with the idea that photography, which, to exist, has to ‘take’ from nature - and therefore aligned to a human-centric less than circular way of living (think fast fashion; plastic production; throwaway culture etc.) can inspire change and healthier river environments. As phytoremediation represents the ability of plants to cleanse pollutants from the environment, can photo-remediation cleanse pollutants from our freshwater environments?
Just yet, I’m not clear on how eco-conscious, abstract photo-art, made with the ‘collaboration’ of rivers, will ‘look’ to really make humans see freshwater differently in a country where, for the time being, it is still on tap. I need to chew on this for a while longer.
There has always been talk about the death of photography throughout its history. As one invention gave way to another, the past and the future collided, often sending shockwaves through photo communities devoted to the before, before they have even grasped the after. That’s happening now with AI and the for and against divide.
In my lifetime, fashions seem to come in cycles and as digital technology has progressed through photography, the past few years in particular have witnessed a boom among artists wanting to use more sustainable photographic options to make work.
I have seen this since founding ShutterPod in 2012, and my podcast, Photopcene, in 2021. The later now has 40 conversations with photographers and artists making conscious efforts to minimise their photographic footprint.
Speaking with others on the podcast, there is a strong draw to working with, and for, nature and in outdoor spaces. It isn’t the domain of younger generations often considered to be more attuned with environmental issues either. We have gone from a few to a worldwide community practising this way. There may be slightly more women than men in this ‘new’ eco-conscious photography arena, perhaps there is a subconscious link to Anna Atkins’ time when botany was considered a suitable science for women. It will be an interesting part my research to determine what drives photo-artists to work this way.
I began my photographic life back in 1985, learning in traditional darkrooms where you never forget their chemical smell. Regardless of the magic you can find there as an image materialises from sleep, I was never comfortable surrounded by toxic liquids. I was an early user of digital when working as a medical photographer - it certainly changed the game for various sectors, but I never felt the moment of magic on a screen as in a developing tray. That’s why predominantly using camera-less, low to non-toxic processes where I can create work in a ‘sunroom’ rather than a darkroom has called to me the most. Working outside along the shoreline, at the allotment or in the riverine is where I connect most to image-making.
This circles back to my PhD title - if my research can mediate for river health then it will, perhaps, provide validation for my choice to use these photographic methods as a tool to call for human-environment behaviour change. With so many artists turning to ‘nature-based’ processes to make abstract photo artwork, the research will show it is more than a means to make ourselves feel better about loving an art form with a dubious environmental footprint.
A NEW HOMe - April 2024
1 April:
This feels like a new beginning. I have relocated ShutterPod and Photopocene from my spare room to a great space at Mount Pleasant Eco Park, Porthtowan. Simply having storage for my photography workshop bits and bobs is a game changer - and I can run workshops on-site too!
Not only is it good for my practice, it’s also good for my PhD too.
Head over to the Photo Store section to book workshops or buy gift vouchers and check out the Events page for other activities coming up in 2024.
Planning process - March 2024
17 March:
Although I began my part-time PhD in October 2022, due to challenging personal circumstances in 2023 my ability to dedicate thinking space to my studies was hindered. To acknowledge this, my contribution to the 2023 summer symposium related to how I aim to use mindful and slow photography as a methodology within my research. Slowing down and ridding myself of any guilt about not necessarily meeting others expectations is a part of this. It has also meant a total review of what I can accomplish, given I am also working and running my photographic practice.
One way I have done this is to start seeing my PhD not as a separate entity but as my photographic practice. This has meant some soul searching about where my focus needs to be as an artist and also as a PhD candidate. As my employers have provided some support to my studies, I found I was putting their needs first - but they are not funding my time and so I have realised I am not encumbered to create a project solely aligned to benefit them. I also remind myself that I am part-time; so in effect I am only just over half-way through a first year - this certainly helps keep things in perspective.
As with many practice-based PhDs, my research, although fundamentally the same as my initial proposal, is flexing as I find new routes and discoveries. I relate this to the meanderings of a river, the subject on which my work is built.
My current focus is as follows:
Phytoremediation as a simile for photo-re/mediation: the power of plants to remove toxins from nature is like the power of abstract, eco-photography to ‘remove’ toxic human impacts on the riverine.
Speaking with scientists researching phytoremediation as a nature-based solution and comparing this to using photo-re/mediation as part of nature-based solutions.
Curating an artists call-out for an abstract, eco-photo-art element of Fringe Arts Bath which will be part of my participatory reserach into the use of abstarct images to evoke behaviour change and mediate for river health.
Devising a participatory, eco-photography symposium in collabortion with Falmouth University.
Building connections with fellow students following similar areas of study and external academics with subject synergy.
And of course, trying to write up my on-going lit review too. I did make a start on my final thesis too!
Rivercideotypes - 2023
Human-made challenges to water quality from issues such as historic mining, sewage pollution and chemical/pharmaceutical inputs are reeking havoc on freshwater ecosystems.
Based in the streams of St Agnes on Cornwall’s north coast, my PhD is researching how, or if, abstract, eco-conscious photography can mediate between humans and river health.
Through personal, citizen artist nature-made images and phytoremediatiion, I will address how (or if) abstract photo-art made in collaboration with the riverine can make an environmental ‘hyperobject’ tangible and prompt behaviour change in individuals to societal systems.