Photopocene Josie Purcell

I love it when we get to meet (in an audio way) a photographic artist whose passion for plants melds with their passion for photography.

In this episode with Sammie Masters-Hopkins, you will discover more about the Pictory Garden she is nurturing to help create a circular means of creating images.

Plus there's chat about how we use and discard botanical tokens as part of our calendar-based celebrations and Sammie's burgeoning long-term photographic project based on these traditions.

Listen along to discover much more and then head over to Sammie's website at slmhopkins.com or find her on Instagram at @slmhopkins

And as ever, I'd love to share your eco-conscious photographic story so don't be shy and get in touch via josiepurcellphotography.com/contact

After a six-month sabbatical from the Photopocene podcast, what a great way to start back!

I'm joined on the first episode of 2024 (and episode 40!) by the delightful Rachel Wright, a photographer whose practice mixes other disciplines, processes and collaborations.

She sums this up in her tagline, "photography, mainly".

We not only chat about her interests in relation to challenging habitual ways of seeing the world, but how her work responds to the potential of the arts to deconstruct notions of nature/culture dualism.

Rachel is keen to address the human tendency to see our species as separate from nature, and how this can influence our desire to care for it, with many of her photo series considering the multi-layers and entanglements of life.

We found much common ground in our conversation, such as sand and abstraction, with Rachel's work providing a means for those who view it to contemplate, consider and challenge their notions of nature.

Intuition, curiosity and play all inform Rachel's working style, and are reflected in her images - listen out for Barn Jam too.

Do take a look at her website but if you are close to Diss, Norfolk, head to the Corn Hall on St Nicholas Street (IP22 4LB) from 17 Feb - 16 March to see her work as part of a collectiveTransformative Nature (Conversations) exhibition.

Visit: rachelwrightphotography.com

Instagram: instagram.com/rachelwrightstudio

It is always a joy to chat with photo-artists employing photography in various forms to share their creative response to environmental matters.

Do contact me, Josie, via instagram.com/josieshutterpod or my website josiepurcellphotography.com to apply to take part, whether you are just starting out on your eco-conscious photo journey or have a ton of photo tales to tell.

This episode with award-winning photographer Jamie House is truly fascinating.

Jamie has an incredible practice which melds research, process and diverse disciplines to explore the intersections of art, science and nature through the lens of posthumanism (simply put, the decentralising of humans and accounting for nonhumans).

Our conversation goes from an 11-year-old Jamie discovering the joy of experimentation through pinhole photography to his recent creation, GHY-3 an immersive sound installation exploring insect communication and satellites at Goonhilly, Cornwall.

There's talk of what inspires Jamie from hidden histories to different realms and new ways of seeing and attentive listening to the world around us. Plus an upcoming book in progress.

Jamie is a British Photography Award recipient, and associate lecturer on MA Photography course University of Plymouth UK. He has presented his work at International and National symposia and has exhibited and published widely.

Head to centrespace.org.uk/whats-on/ghy-3 for all the details about the upcoming show.

You can follow Jamie on Instagram at instagram.com/j_aime_h

As ever, to share your eco-conscious photographic practice, message me via Insta at instagram.com/josieshutterpod or head to josiepurcellphotography.com

This podcast conversation has been one I'm so pleased to have had. Please, please do accept the tech glitches in this episode though - I don't know why the airwave Piskies were out and about but I'm sure they won't distract you too much for the wonderful conversation I had with photographer, Tess Zahn.

We go from art school to motherhood, from England to Greece, from juggling jobs to carving out time all in pursuit of photographic art. Tess shares some of the artists from myriad art disciplines who have inspired, and continue to inspire her and how life can impact on an artist's sense of being an...artist. Our conversation meanders in many ways, and comes back to how photography can help in relation to environmental matters.

You can find out more at tesszahn.com or on Insta at instagram.com/tesszahnphotography

Visit the Artwave Festival here: artwavefestival.org

And since recording, Tess has learnt that the Bloom Cafe & Hope Centre will close in July due to a lack of funding, so please go visit them in Brighton while you can.

As ever, if you would like to share your eco-conscious photography story, drop me an email via josie[at]josiepurcellphotography.com or head to my website: josiepurcellphotography.com/contact

It is a delight to speak with photographer Jo Bradford for this episode of Photopocene, especially as we have known each other for many years but lost touch in the ebb and flow of life.

She is super talented and her camera-less images sing with colour. But Jo is also an author, a university lecturer and workshop leader, and has a new collaborative photography book coming out later this year.

And, she has robots in her darkroom! Listen along to find out more.

Take a look at Jo's work via jobradford.com and greenislandstudios.co.uk or follow her on Insta at instagram.com/jo_bradford

If you would like to share your love for eco-conscious photography, simply visit josiepurcellphotography.com

This time, I'm fortunate to chat with the photographer, Maria Primo on the Photopocene podcast. 

I have been blown away by her work for El Libro de Arena (The Book of Sand). A fascinating look at a story of a sand dune, intertwined with history and intrigue in a place I know little about other than its well-known name. 

The long-term project acts as a "metaphor of the absurd will of humanity to dominate nature while remaining separate from her", while it delves into the social, environmental, and political issues behind the formation of the dune.

It's such an honour to learn more about Maria's work, and about Maria herself. I do hope I get to visit her in Madrid one day.

Listen in to discover more and then head over to mariaprimo.com or find Maria on Instagram @mariaprimo

Contact me via josiepurcellphotography.com to take part in the podcast.