Practice-Based PhD Research, Fine Art, Royal College of Art, 2024

"Ancient Light: Rematerialising The Astronomical Image"
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Abstract:

How can the field of astronomical photography, viewed through the lens of new materialism, alter our collective perception of ecology? How does the coalescence of astronomy and materiality alter our perception of analogue photographic processes?

In this time of ecological catastrophe, it is important to readdress our tangible, material connection with the universe and our planet. By analysing this interaction between astronomy, new materialism, and photography, new insights are provided on how this convergence of theories alters our understanding of the natural world. The thesis demonstrates the interconnectedness between the universe, humans and photographic materiality. It discusses the importance of investigating the materials that we use daily, with a specific focus on waste produced by the photographic industry.

Analogue astronomical photography uniquely allows us to understand the intimate connection between the cosmos and the earthbound. Silver is found in distant stars, yet it can be mined from the depths of our Earth and used to create photographic images. Calcium is also found within stars such as our Sun, yet it is also a building block of bones and teeth, which can then be processed to make gelatin. In this text, I draw upon my own reflective practice; I have taken long exposure photographs of the stars in international dark sky locations and observatories. The methodology of this practice-based research is informed by Donna Haraway and Melody Jue, who advocate for an embodied experience of landscape. This research builds on Donald Schön’s concept of reflective knowledge. I discuss photographic artists working in and with the landscape, including Garry Fabian Miller and Susan Derges.

I go on to consider more-than-representational, non-human photography, as introduced by Rebecca Najdowski and Joanna Zylinska. My thesis is situated in the context of new materialism, which seeks to understand the intrinsic material connections between human and non-human phenomena. I draw on theorists such as Jane Bennett, Karen Barad, Donna Haraway and Timothy Morton, as well as from Robin Wall Kimmerer, who analyses the complex network of material exchanges from a perspective informed both by contemporary science and ancient indigenous thinking.

Understanding more about the interconnected nature of photographic and astronomical materiality, it becomes imperative to innovate new methods of sustainable photographic practice. This research demonstrates analogue photographic processes which are less damaging to the environment, including plant-based developers and silver reclamation from photographic fixer. Distinct from contemporary astronomical photographic images, which are often digital composites with interpreted colour, Ancient Light demonstrates our intimate connection with the cosmos, by examining the tangible, entangled connections between the stars, human existence, and the ecology of planet Earth. The thesis advances knowledge in this area by weaving these connections together, providingn new

MA Research, Art and Science, Central Saint Martins, 2013

Metaphors in Art and Science - The Bubble as a Metaphor for the Brevity of Life 
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Homo Bulla Series

My Masters thesis at Central Saint Martins was focused on the subject of the bubble as a metaphor for the brevity of life. In 17th Century Dutch Vanitas paintings, the soap bubble was used as a visual metaphor to remind the viewer of the transient nature of life. The soap bubble exists for just a couple of seconds, a perfect sphere, reflecting and refracting its surroundings beautifully. Due to the dryness of the air surrounding the soap bubble, and the pull of gravity, the bubble eventually bursts. It was almost as if the bubble had never existed. The Dutch Vanitas artists of The Golden Age, likened the existence of life to the every-day phenomena of the soap bubble, and now with a superior knowledge of the universe we can draw more comparisons. From looking at the universe, we have discovered that life has only inhabited a tiny portion of the entirety of time and space, and is therefore incredibly precious. Alike the soap bubble, life exists for a (relatively) short amount of time, before it ‘pops’ out of existence. 

The idea of ‘life as a bubble’ holds weight in contemporary cosmological theory, scientists often compare cosmological happenings to bubbles and foam. This idea spans from inflation theory, to multiverse theory – the idea that the universe exists as one bubble amongst a sea of cosmic foam . In the constellation Cassiopeia, there sits a Bubble Nebula which measures over six light-years across, having been blown by cosmic winds. This idea even extends to quantum science relating to the birth of the universe, as some scientists believe that the universe exists as a quantum fluctuation from nothing, something that can be easily understood by watching the soap bubble emerge and then disappear within a matter of seconds.