Perception is reality
My photographs are a mix of aimless serendipity – featuring places, people and activity, made with a calculated desire for memorability. I take photographs of what I find, of two distinct types.
There are photographs taken in real life, when I’m actually ‘there’, in the place the picture shows, using film cameras. These photographs are not manipulated and fall into the category of ‘Being There’. Lyrical documentary if you will.
And then there are re-photographs, also film based, where I appropriate and photograph imagery of something I find on TV, or the Internet – that I’m seeing from elsewhere, vicariously. I call these pictures ‘Telescreens’.
The perceptual difference produced by the two different processes and points of view is the subject of my work.
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 this deliberate act of comparison of how different approaches to imagery – a cornerstone of our engagement with the world around us – affect our perception and interpretation of reality.
In keeping with the contemporary trend for proactive and unrestrained deployment of constructive ambiguity and the emergent tone of impunity and confusion caused by AI – I purposefully add complexity to the situation. In that I sometimes manipulate the Telescreen imagery, or curate unrelated scenes together – to produce ambiguous narratives with metaphorical intent, layered behind an aesthetic allure.
Disclaimer: All characters and events are entirely fictitious and any similarity to real places or people, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended. None of what you see really happened.
Shows:
‘Daily, Weekly’, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Australia, February 2012
‘A Machine for Living in’, Hannah Barry Gallery, London, May 2012
‘New Community Design’, Tokyo‘Wondersite’, Tokyo, Japan,April 2012
‘Wondersite’, Japanese Embassy, London, May / June 2012
‘Bend Over Shirley’, Beaconsfield Contemporary Art, London, July 2012
Chelsea Salon, South London Gallery, London, October 2012
Chelsea Salon, Chelsea College of Art & Design – The Bakehouse, November 2012
‘Perfect Patio’, Space Station 65 – London, May 2013
MA Degree Show, Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, September 2013
‘Morphol Scream’, Piccadilly Place, Manchester, March 2014
‘Fake Phoney Reality’ – (solo show) in the ‘Balfron Season’ @ 67 Balfron Tower,London, September 2014
Summer Arts Prize shortlist show 2015, Lacey Contemporary Gallery – Holland Park London
‘ENDS’, Group show, Hundred Years Gallery, London, July 2016
Summer Arts Prize shortlist 2016, Lacey Contemporary Gallery – Holland Park London
«2016 days of awesome photo books», LhGWR gallery, The Hague, The Netherlands
It’s all about the image; What you see is what you see – 2021, solo show, Blackshed Gallery, Robertsbridge, East Sussex
Nobody can hide, but everything is under control – 2021, solo show – Trinity 7, Hastings, East Sussex Athens Photo Festival – 2022, shortlisted
Group show / IMPACT 12 Printmaking Conference at The Centre for Print Research, University of the West of En- gland, Bristol in September ’22
‘Weather fair, visibility good’. Solo Show – Coastal Currents Arts Festival, Hastings, September ’23
Shutterhub – Yearbook Exhibition 2024
Project: six months in Africa, ‘All along the African road – it’s only ever now’ 2023/24
Project: A road trip to Kyiv, ongoing –
Art Book Fairs & photo’zine collections
Encontros da Imagem – International Photography Festival – Soap and Rocket photo’books shortlisted,
Sep / Nov 16 Tijuana Porto 12a Feira de Arte Impressa – Soap and Rocket photo’books selected, Oct ’16
Tijuana collection, São Paulo – selected September 2016
Self Publish – Be Happy, collection, selected September 2016
Publications:
Soap and Rocket episodes 01 to 05 / ISSN 2399 3065
Residencies:
Queensland College of Art, Griffin University, Queensland, Australia February 2012
Tokyo ‘Wondersite’, Japan, March 2012
Flat Time House, Camberwell, London, June 2012
‘Cellusys’, Africa, 2023 – 24
Education:
Masters Degree in Fine Art 2013, Camberwell College of Art, Chelsea College of Art
– University of the Arts, London
