Open Theme nominee

5 images from an ongoing project. Each time I holiday on the Isle of Mull I spend several days recording the plastic debris that has washed up on a small beach on the west coast. Each year I hope there will be less to photograph, and each year I am disappointed. 2016 was particularly dismaying since I had decided to focus upon the "ghost nets" and plastic bags that were abundant on a previous visit. It was a grim task with plastic rope and twine everywhere, appearing to grow from the sand and even mingling with the grass at the highest points. What struck me is that often the bags and nets had taken animal or plant like forms.
After 5 days I became fatigued and depressed: to document the extent of the problem would take months.

I also decided to work with colour instead of my habitual black and white.

I am an artist and creative practitioner and primarily work with photography and sound. I work with community groups and schools on arts and heritage projects, and much of my time is spent helping people develop their creative and artistic talents. When I'm not working with others I spend most of my time with my camera or in the music studio. Much of my photography and music explores memory and narrative or my relationship to the natural world.

I am currently working on my first photographic solo show: "Extraordinary Objects". This comprises of a series of portraits of people with objects that have become repositories for their memories. The show will also include oral history recordings and photographic series that interpret the stories associated with the extraordinary objects.