My work centres on the representation of the rural. The rural myth idealises landscape and obscures those who live and work on the land.
There are tensions between the recreational use of land and land as a means of survival. It can cast rural workers as destroyers while simultaneously denying land as the source of food and raw materials.
I hope that my work helps to make those working on the land more visible and raises debate around these issues.
Projects and exhibitions |
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| 7/2020 | Became a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts | |
| 2018-date | Documentation of solitary food growers – market gardeners, allotment holders and people growing food at home. Photographs, recorded interviews, and soil samples from each site. | |
| 2018 | Alumni fellow, Nottingham Trent University | |
| 11/2018-date | “Quarried”, County Hall, Matlock | |
| 07/2017 | Buxton Art Trail, prints from “Quarried” and the rock & water series | |
| 05/2017 | “Here & Now” AA2A artists, 5-21 May, Sheffield Hallam University, SIA Gallery, Cantor Building, 153 Arundel Street, Sheffield, S1 2NU | |
| 04/2017 | “Quarried” 30 prints from the Quarried project. 03-28 April 2017. Royal Photographic Society, Fenton House, Bath | |
| 03/2017 | Ten prints from the “M40 Warwickshire” project included in “Creating the Countryside – Thomas Gainsborough to Today”, Compton Verney, Warwickshire | |
| 2016-17 | AA2A – Artists Access to Art Colleges placement at Sheffield Hallam University | |
| 2016 | “Midland Open”, Tarpey Gallery, DE74 2PQ, August 20 – September 17 | |
| 2016 | “Basic Human Needs”, Blaenfos, SA39 0HU, 5-26 June 2016 | |
| 2016 | “The Birmingham Jewellery Quarter” Exhibition of images from the 1983 project at Calumet Photographic, Birmingham, 2-30 April 2016 | |
| 2013-16 | “Quarried” alternative landscapes of the Peak District. Exhibition at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, 6 Feb-10 April 2016 | |
| 1990-2005 | Freelance articles for magazines in the UK, US and Australia. | |
| 1990-91 | Documentary commission to record the building of the Cable & Wireless college, Coventry. | |
| 1989 | The fall of the Berlin Wall, freelance photography for national newspapers. | |
| 1988-90 | “M40 Warwickshire” exhibition, Ikon gallery, Birmingham. A smaller, lightweight version also toured until 1991 as part of the Ikon gallery touring programme. | |
| 1987 | Artist in residence Trinity School, Leamington Spa. | |
| 1986 | The M40 Warwickshire project. | |
| 1986 | “Farmwork 2” exhibition, a smaller, lightweight version toured until 1989. | |
| 1986 | “Farmwork”, the work and people of modern British agriculture exhibition ; launched at the 1986 Royal Show and toured to 80 UK venues, 1986-1991. | |
| 1985 | Commission to record the renovation and conversion of new building for West Midlands Arts, Birmingham. | |
| 1984-88 | The Farmwork Project | |
| 1984 | “Youth in Coventry”, commissioned project documenting the work of Coventry Youth Support Team. | |
| 1984 | Rotary International Convention, commissioned exhibition of the work of Rotary Clubs; the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. | |
| 1983 | Coventry – Reconstructions of the Modern, Ikon gallery touring programme. | |
| 1983 | The Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, black and white prints and text; Ikon gallery touring programme. | |
| 1982 | Colour in the Urban Landscape, Cibachrome prints; Coventry Polytechnic. | |
| 1981 | Orkney – Land and People, black and white prints; Coventry Polytechnic. | |
Books |
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| 2016 | “Farmwork” Cafe Royal Books | |
| 2016 | “Jewellery Quarter” Cafe Royal Books | |
| 1990 | “Sharp voices still lives” (Contributor) Corner House Publications. 1990 ISBN 0948797851 | |
| 1988 | “Farmwork, men and women on the land” Chatto and Windus, London. ISBN 070113299x | |
| 1988 | “M40 Warwickshire” Ikon gallery. ISBN 0907594239 | |
Collections |
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| “Quarried” exhibition, Buxton Museum and Art Gallery permanent collection | ||
| “Farmwork” Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading [http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/merl/tag/farmwork/] |
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| “M40 Warwickshire” Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading | ||
Education |
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| 2013-15 | MA photography (Distinction) Nottingham Trent University. Project about the representation of the rural resulting in an exhibition, “Quarried”, shown at Buxton Museum & Art Gallery, Feb – April 2016. | |
| 1982-83 | MA Graphic Design (visual communication) City of Birmingham Polytechnic. Photographic projects included a documentation of the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter which was an Ikon gallery touring exhibition | |
| 1979-82 | BA (Hons) Communication Studies, Coventry Polytechnic. Options included, photography, video, sound and art history | |
Visiting lecturer |
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| 06/2016 | Blackpool Sixth Form College | |
| 01/2016 | Nottingham Trent University, MA Photography | |
| 09/2015 | Central College Nottingham | |
| 01/2015 | Blackpool Sixth Form College | |
Employment |
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| 1984-2005 | Freelance photojournalist specialising in horticulture, farming and country life and the representation of the rural particularly with an emphasis on work. | |
| 1983-2005 | Open University, tutor, student counsellor and assistant senior counsellor (P-T) | |
| 1979-1983 | Full time higher education | |
| 1967-1979 | Electronics and radio communication industries | |
