Royal Photographic Society
Contemporary Photography Genre - Successful Fellowship Print Submission.
April 2022.
The artists statement or Statement of Intent (SoI) below, does not directly explain my approach or why I have done what I have done. Unorthodox, but the viewer should be able to sort this out, if they are curious and ask questions. In fact, the SoI in this case is actually a question. I have articulated this without capitals, punctuation, paragraphs etc. using a similar form of approach to some of James Joyce’s work. This is how I thought when in front of the subject(s). Not written or spoken communication but thought. I don’t use punctuation as such when I think (does anyone?), thoughts just flow from one to another, sometimes two things or even more at once, the stronger ones taking priority then shifting perhaps as senses react. A flow or 'stream of consciousness', expressed as a kind of anxiety, panic or just surprise, ending in a question rather than relief or comfort. There is an irony to OutForest. Much care, time and consideration has been given to image sequencing. The developers invite people to live in a forest yet they chop the forest out to build the new housing development.
OutForest.
the old forest boundary for hundreds of years and the lookout keeping guard can you see and the fence but further down another stalwart field marker is surrounded by dancing saplings and it is clear we have complex problems and this is all for show we need to live somewhere the fields are no good but the forest is inviting so let’s root them out and make a clearing and live there and our houses can have a motif on the gable like a tree high that will do but now the cracks appear and I see a new tree with other new grey ones behind with branches each that whirl in the wind and they make some light work somewhere but I can still just see glimpses of the forest so there is hope as I look one way and the saplings still dance around new houses celebrating their build not built and then the other way and the thin end of the wedge is cutting but I can rest on the bench made of one that was felled but it’s fine there’s another one nearby but then dividing and supported by another one felled and the saplings will restore and each fence upright dead stands memorial to those felled as I go around and around just circling until I see the end of the path and look there’s loads more to take out and I am directed towards the forest reach and from the shadows we can only see complex problems and it’s all for show and it is relentless and we are out of time and I am tired now on the OutForest and I am looking in do you follow what the lookout can see because who can it’s just not clear is it?
the old forest boundary for hundreds of years and the lookout keeping guard
can you see and the fence
but further down another stalwart field marker is surrounded by dancing saplings
and it is clear we have complex problems and this is all for show
we need to live somewhere the fields are no good
but the forest is inviting so let’s root them out and make a clearing and live there
and our houses can have a motif on the gable like a tree high that will do
but now the cracks appear
and I see a new tree with other new grey ones behind with branches each that whirl in the wind and they make some light work somewhere but I can still just see glimpses of the forest so there is hope
as I look one way
and the saplings still dance around new houses celebrating their build not built
and then the other way and the thin end of the wedge is cutting
but I can rest on the bench made of one that was felled but it’s fine there’s another one nearby
but then dividing and supported by another one felled
and the saplings
will restore
and each fence upright dead stands memorial to those felled
as I go around and around just circling until I see
the end of the path and look there’s loads more to take out and I am directed
towards the forest reach and from the shadows
we can only see complex problems and it’s all for show
and it is relentless and we are out of time and I am tired now on the OutForest and I am looking in do you follow what the lookout can see because who can it’s just not clear
is it?
See more work from the OutForest Project click on the link below
