Saturday 8 October at 10.30-16.30 BST on Zoom 

Course overview
Photography plays an important role in raising the profile of environmental issues and has the ability to be sustainable. It can also be defined as an extractive medium with an impact on natural resources. Over the course of a day, we will unpack the problems and possibilities of photography in relation to the environment.

Greener Photography will introduce a range of photographers and artists committed to addressing climate change through their work – including Edward Burtynsky, Susan Derges, Gideon Mendel and Anastasia Samoylova. We will look at some of the historic influences that continue to affect contemporary photographers documenting disaster. We will also uncover a range of abstract imagery that highlights the consequences of what is now widely acknowledged as the Anthropocene era.

Finally, we will discuss the role of activism through photography and how to manage eco-anxieties in relation to photography

Led by PhD candidate on Falmouth University’s Environmental Futures programme and eco-conscious photographic artist Josie Purcell.

Course format

Taking place over Zoom, the day will include a combination of presentations and group discussion. Participants will be provided with lecture slides and a list of resources for further study.

Who is this for?

This course is suitable for photographers, artists and others interested in photography’s relationship to the environment and climate change, with a contemporary theoretical and practical approach.

Biography

Based in Cornwall, Josie Purcell gained an MA in Photography (Distinction) at Falmouth University in 2018 following a varied photographic and journalism career. She is interested in the human place within, and impact on, the natural world and our connections to vital resources such as water, soil and sand. She has exhibited widely, including through commissions such as the exhibition, and subsequent book, Of Earth-For Earth, funded by the EU via the IMP@CT project (University of Exeter) which deliberated the potential for global, sustainable mining practices. Purcell created her eco-darkroom in 2012, teaching nature-considered photographic workshops and created the Photopocene podcast in 2021 to share the views of other eco-conscious photographers. She is a visiting lecturer for Falmouth University. In September 2022, Purcell will begin a PhD with the University to research societal responses to challenging, human-centric environmental change through nature-based photographic practices and its potential to influence evolution within the photography industry.

Bursaries

A number of partial bursaries covering 50 per cent of course fees will be awarded on a first come basis. Applicants who wish to be considered for a partial bursary should submit a statement (max. 500 words) to projects@tpg.org.uk, outlining how Greener Photography would contribute to their professional development. Successful applicants will be notified within a week of submission. 

We actively encourage applications from groups who are currently underrepresented in the cultural sector in the UK. This includes people who identify as D/deaf, disabled* and neurodivergent; those with caring responsibilities; candidates from Black, Asian and ethnically diverse backgrounds; and arts and culture professionals whose career development has been negatively impacted by Covid-19, prioritising independent artists, freelancers and those made redundant/at risk of redundancy since 2020.

*The Equality Act 2010 defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Sharing that you are disabled will not be used in any way in judging the quality of your application.

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