Gill’s Projects
Projects are an important part of my photography. Combined with publishing they allow me to tell special stories about places that are important to me.
Recent Projects
Projects are an important part of my work as a photographer. They allow me to tell special stories about places that are meaningful to me. They focus my image making and allow me to explore subjects that are close to my heart.
I also have a love of publishing and the written word, so projects have become a way to combine photography, storytelling and design. The outcome has been two well received books about local places and a third project about Suffolk which I am co ordinating this year.
For the future I will be focusing on another new venture which will be a bi annual photographic journal of place.
Below are the details of my most recent projects.
At the edge of permanence
Nothing is life or the landscape is permanent.
We live life in moments, ephemeral and transitory, happy and sad, difficult and rewarding.
The same is true of the landscape – it changes all the time.
But there are locations that have a durability about them that makes them feel unchangeable and permanent. Coigach in the North West Highlands of Scotland is one such place.
Coigach lies about 20 miles north of Ullapool in the North West Highlands Geopark. The landscapes within the park contain some of the oldest rocks (3 billion years old) and some of the earliest evidence of life found anywhere in Europe. But on a more local level the area is made up of habitats and wild places that are transient and vulnerable and which change on a daily basis.
Set against the seemingly permanent mountains of Assynt This project explores life in the liminal zones. Those ever changing realms where no moments are the same.
‘Planet Suffolk- love letters from a changing world’
This is an exciting new project for 2022 which I am co ordinating. It offers the chance for members of the public to get involved and tell a unique story about Suffolk.
The project sets out to record and preserve for future generations the aspects of the environment that are important to Suffolk residents in 2022, what we care about and what concerns us. The visual stories represent tokens of love, care and concern for the local landscapes, wildlife and habitats we are keen to see preserved for future generations.
This project is a fantastic opportunity to speak out about the things we all care about here in Suffolk. Why is this landscape amazing, why is the wildlife important, why do we love visiting a particular location? We all have a story we can tell about our environment and these stories deserve to be heard.
To find out more please visit the Planet Suffolk Website
Rooted
Some wild places have the power to captivate all who visit them, not because they have unrivalled views or superior scenery but because they instil in the visitor a sense of wonder and awe. This project is about one such place.
It’s ancient woodland is a landscape of fairytale qualities where vast oaks stand side by side with some of the tallest holly trees in Britain. Reminiscent of childhood stories, the wood is a chaotic tangle of twisted branches where light is sparse and evergreen curtains of holly hang in the air. Dead and decaying boughs and trunks litter the floor and even on the brightest of days the air is cool and the forest dark. For all who enter here mystery abounds and imagination runs wild.
Rooted began as a series of six images which I entered into the annual Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Photography Portfolio competition. These images won me a Silver – Gilt medal at the 2021 RHS Art and Photography show which took place at the Saatchi Gallery in London. These six images formed the basis of the book which I added to over many visits in every season.
Rooted is my story of an ancient woodland. It is one of connection, between two tree species, between humanity and nature and on a more personal level between a photographer and an ancient oakwood. It is a project and place that has had a profound effect on me. It has shaped my art and has provided me with a peaceful natural refuge to explore with my camera.
Grounded
Grounded – a year of nature connections on Hollesley Marshes started as a project in January 2020. It began as a piece of work to document a year in the life of Hollesley Marshes. This is an area I walk to every morning with my dog, it is somewhere I have learnt so much about simply by observing the landscape and wildlife on a daily basis.
In March 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic overtook all our lives and my project turned from a straight documentary to one which detailed my connection with the landscape through the constraints of my permitted daily exercise. The images portray fleeting moments captured during a morning walk. They were not pre planned, were shot without a tripod or filters and represent my reaction to a scene at a particular moment in time. They are intended to be viewed as a visual sketchbook of a special place.
At the end of 2020 I published my images from Grounded in a book which tells my story of this wonderful place.