Pledge | Process | Planet Exhibition

I’m over the moon to have been selected to exhibit in the Cairngorms National Park’s upcoming Pledge | Process | Planet exhibition.

My entry into the exhibition is process focused, a scrapbook-esque and organic gathering of items sharing how I use plant materials in analogue photo development and printing. This is a sharing of knowledge – a portal of inspiration and discussion.

Please go along to see the exhibition at Openspace Gallery during May if you can. Opening weekend coincides beautifully with Grantown Open Studios, so there’s never been a better time for a creative visit to Grantown.

My Pledge: “I pledge to use sustainable photographic practices that work in harmony with the environment, to tell our human stories alongside biodiversity loss and climate change, while promoting a respectful, resource-conscious approach to creativity.”

More about my entry:

My process responds to the cause of climate change by aligning with sustainable and environmentally conscious art practices that directly engage with the natural world. By focusing on analogue photography and plant-based developers, I am intentionally using processes that are less reliant on harmful chemicals and digital technologies, both of which contribute to environmental degradation. This choice reflects my commitment to environmentally sustainable practice.

This work embodies a kind of resource-conscious creativity that can draw attention to the importance of preserving biodiversity and fostering more sustainable interactions with nature. By using materials that are sourced from the environment itself, I am also challenging a prevalent consumer culture of mass production and waste, instead promoting the idea of working with what the land provides in a respectful and responsible way. The resulting images embody the chlorophyll and water of the environment they represent.

Beyond the physical practice, my photography becomes not only an artistic exploration but also a call to recognise and protect the places most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In the creation of these images there is a more primitive human response to being within the environment, linking an ancestral understanding of the plants and elements I forage and photograph. The process and resulting narrative of images are one-in-the same: a body of work that speaks to the urgency of climate change and the fragile state of our ecosystems.