slow still life is about reconnecting with nature and slowing down to pay closer attention to the ordinary. It is also about unlearning perfectionism and the urge to be productive. Through a slow and embodied creative process, I have sought emancipation from the “colonisation of the self by capitalist ideas of productivity and efficiency” (Odell 2019: 14). Fanned by the gig economy and entrepreneurial culture in which creative people must necessarily participate, it is this drive toward productivity upon which capitalism relies. In this way, my work is not only personal, but political.

There is an inherent tension in this work: by creating these photographs, I have given into the urge to be productive. However, I have strived to do so in a self-conscious way, leaning into the slowness of analogue processes and embracing imperfection in the results.

Instead of using traditional darkroom chemicals, which are toxic for people and the planet, I make my own developer from foraged plants, I harvest rainwater to use as stop bath, and I have reduced saltwater from Strangford Lough to use as fixer. These analogue processes align with the concept of slow living which underpins the project.

This work was initiated through the Land Art Agency’s Land Narratives Study Group with Hanna-Katrina Jędrosz, thanks to funding through the Individual Artist Grant from the Ards and North Down Borough Council (2022). This work has further been supported with a grant from the Richard and Siobhan Coward Foundation (2023). This work was presented in a solo exhibition at the Ards Art Centre in Newtownards in September 2023.

Some of the pieces from this exhibition are available for sale. If you are interested in purchasing a piece from this exhibition, please get in touch with me via email.