I use two different approaches to take photographs — according to whether I’m actually ’there’, in the place the picture shows, or seeing something vicariously, on the Internet or TV. Either way, I take photographs of what I find.
‘Being There’ involves going somewhere with a camera and taking photographs. The pictures that result are taken in real time, in real space, developed in chemicals and are not manipulated.
The second approach also involves a film-based camera process — but applied to imagery I find online or in TV broadcast, that I appropriate and re-photograph. I call these pictures ‘Telescreens’.
There’s no hierarchy or boundary of subject matter across this divide of direct, in-real-life experience versus indirect, vicarious screen viewing. The contrast between the visual syntaxes reflects how I engage with reality — sometimes being there in the moment, or at other times watching TV or the Internet.
The foundation of the work is an exploration of how these different approaches affect our perception and interpretation of reality. Citizen Reality is a mix of aimless serendipity and a calculated desire for memorability.
Selected Exhibitions
‘Weather fair, visibility good’. Solo Show — Coastal Currents Arts Festival, Hastings, 2023
Nobody can hide, but everything is under control — solo show, Trinity 7, Hastings, 2021
It’s all about the image — solo show, Blackshed Gallery, Robertsbridge, 2021
‘Fake Phoney Reality’ — solo show, Balfron Tower, London, 2014
Publications
Soap and Rocket episodes 01–05 / ISSN 2399 3065
Education
Masters Degree in Fine Art 2013, Chelsea College of Art — University of the Arts, London
