I ask questions about our relationship with technology, and have been doing so since 2015, shortly after returning to education in my forties.
I offer no answers.
As life today is being decoded and then recoded, I aim to explore how this has disrupted ingrained notions of authority, identity and our collective perception of what we humans are, or aren’t. (Maybe with some degree of hope, despite the obvious horrors). I do this by playing through and with an expanded definition of ‘the image’. I am impressed with philosopher Thomas Nail’s (2019; 11) description of the image as “not reducible to a strictly visual kind [but rather] optical, sonic, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory”. This definition seems most suited to today’s paradigm.
I try hard to avoid sanctimony, piousness, misplaced nostalgia or technical fantasy, although I will say social media seems like a failed experiment at this moment. The existential challenges people face, however, from every direction, no matter who they are, in the present moment are seismic. It is too easy to pontificate from social media or the reified corridors of academia and the arts. Within that, I enjoy challenging the orthodoxies and dogmas that underpin photography and film practices and philosophies by categorically refusing habitual hierarchies between various media: mixing, mulching, composting original and found matter – glass, textiles, plastic, photo albums, old books, newspapers, magazines, pictures, AI generated material, text, audio, organic and non-organic, self and other. All are media. All are language/material(s). None of these materials and processes come into being outside any real ‘stuff’ that makes our universe – indeed, they are the immanent dynamic real. As I reject commonsense ‘values’, I often work with processes that are frowned upon, dismissed and belittled (I’ve sold iPhone prints, made films with Snapchat Filters and embrace generative AI), as well as those which have been romanticised and fetishised.
Reflection, note-taking, asking questions are as important to my work as any traditional output, such as framed pictures, films or installation. Probably more so. You can visit notes here where you will find a more detailed About page.
In 2023, I graduated with an MA in Contemporary Photography; Practices and Philosophies (Distinction). My final project, LAMELLA:// was nominated for the Mullen NOVA CSM award and received one from Hahnemüehle for most creative use of their paper. In 2022, why is there an astronaut in a field of flowers/ was one of seven projects selected for Format/Derby Quad’s Future Focus Exhibition and received a Format Award.
Elsewhere, I work with artists and photographers, developing websites and supporting/mentoring while working on specific projects. I offer structured feedback, as well as practical support and theoretical guidance. I can help with websites, blogging, AI image-generation, ethics around the image, and zine/digital publication . Please inquire about fees or request further information.