Symbiosis II at Four Corners Gallery, Bethnal Green

An exhibition organised by London Alternative Photography Collective  at Four Corners Gallery - curated by Hayley Harrison, Melanie King, and Ky Lewis

Private View: Thursday 16th May 2024 18.00 - 20.30. Photo-scanner synth demo by Hack Modular.

Exhibition Open: Wed 15th May - Saturday 18th May 2024 11.00 -18.00.

Four Corners: 121 Roman Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 0QN

‘Symbiosis’ is a group exhibition exploring the relationship between image makers, the more-than-human, and alternative photographic processes.

When working with analogue and alternative photographic processes, light, water, and botanicals are harvested to expose, process, tone and transform work. During this transformation, there is dependency on non-human elements.

This exhibition considers the connections between symbiosis and alternative photography, and asks if nature is a collaborator or a commodity in alternative photography processes.

What does it mean to be in relationship with a landscape or a plant for extended periods of time – to witness the interplay between individual species within their ecosystems? What is the role of artistic testimony when witnessing symbiosis within these relationships?

Whether by process or theme, this exhibition documents interspecies relationships – including those between humans and non-humans. Photographic and momentary, they are mid-relationship – we can only guess the before and after.

How do we bear witness to symbiotic relationships between different species, alongside our responsibility to acknowledge that the true definition of symbiosis is both parasitic and mutualistic? Much like alternative photographic processes, balance and equilibrium are essential to symbiosis.

During the exhibition opening there will be a photo-scanner synth demo by Hack Modular. The synthesizer module generates sound by rapidly scanning lines across photographs. Variations between dark and light translate directly to the movement of the speaker. Slides therefore are wavetables and contain a unique set of sounds. Moving the transparency across the linear photo-scanner shifts the timbre of the sound. Scan rate equates to pitch. Lamp intensity controls dynamics.

Artists:

Aindreas Scholz / Anna Kroeger / Anna Luk / Anna Lukala / Catriona Gray / Constanza Isaza Martinez / Ed Sykes / Eileen White / Eric Fong / Hayley Harrison / Heloise Bergman / Inga Tillere / Jacqui Barrowcliffe / Katrina Stamatopoulos / Ky Lewis / Laura Hindmarsh / Leanne Wiggers / Luca Ortis / Magda Kuca / Martha Gray / Megan Ringrose / Melanie King / Milena Michalski / Nettie Edwards / Paeony Lewis / Riya Panwar / Roellof Bakker / Sayako Sugawara / Sophie Sherwood / Vikki Rutter / Yasuaki Matsumoto / Zara Carpenter

Poster Image: Riya Panwar

Illumination // Centrespace Gallery, Bristol with Bristol Folkhouse Darkroom

Illumination
Dates: 20-24 April 2024. 10am-6pm
Opening Event: 19th April, 6pm-9pm

Venue: Centrespace Gallery, 6 Leonard Ln, Bristol BS1 1EA

An exhibition exploring light, the photographic, and the self.

We present an exhibition of artists working with alternative, analogue, photographic processes to explore their internal world and sense of identity. Curated by Melanie King, Sarah Rose Currie, and Sophie Sherwood.

Artists:

Claire McCarthy
Claudia Pilsl
Daniela Spector
Dee Byrne
Ella Bryant
Gilbert Hayes Spencer
Grant Beran
Hannah Morgan
Helen Emily Davy
Henwyn Collective
Jenny Lewis
Joanna Byrne
Kate Beaugié
Katie Lou McCabe
Lenka Rayn H
Magda Bond
Marco Ferrari
Naroa Perez
Nettie Edwards
Phillipa Klaiber
Sarah Currie
Soham Joshi
Sophie Anna Gibbings
Sophie Sherwood
Wai Lok Cheung
Wenjun Xie/Peiran Wang
Xiayi Su

Symbiosis Exhibition at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton

SYMBIOSIS

An exhibition organised by London Alternative Photography Collective at Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton, 13 Pearson St, London E2 8JD. Organised by Melanie King, Ky Lewis and Hayley Harrison.

Exhibition Open: 18th January - 27 January 2024.

Opening Times: Wed - Fri 14:00 to 19:00 Sat: 16:00 to 19:00 Sun: 13:30 to 19:00

Evening Events opening: 19:30 to 22:00

Opening Party/Private View: Thursday 18th of January 2024 6.30 to 9.30
Photo-scanner synth demo by Hack Modular.

Closing event (artist tour): Saturday 27 January 2024 4-7.30pm.

Artists:

Alice Watkins
Anna Kroeger
Anna Luk
Anna Lukala
Catriona Gray
Constanza Isaza Martinez
Ed Sykes
Eileen White
Eric Fong
Esme Papa
Hayley Harrison
Imogen Locke
Katrina Stamatopoulous
Ky Lewis
Leanne Wiggers
Magda Kuca
Martha Gray
Megan Ringrose
Nettie Edwards
Paeony Lewis
Roelof Bakker
Sayako Sugawara
Sophia Sherwood
Walter and Zoniel

During the exhibition opening there will be a photo-scanner synth demo by Hack Modular. The synthesizer module generates sound by rapidly scanning lines across photographs. Variations between dark and light translate directly to the movement of the speaker. Slides therefore are wavetables and contain a unique set of sounds. Moving the transparency across the linear photo-scanner shifts the timbre of the sound. Scan rate equates to pitch. Lamp intensity controls dynamics.

‘Symbiosis’ is a group exhibition exploring the relationship between image makers, the more-than-human, and alternative photographic processes.

When working with analogue and alternative photographic processes, light, water, and botanicals are harvested to expose, process, tone and transform work. During this transformation, there is dependency on non-human elements.

Questions to consider within this exhibition:

What are the connections between symbiosis and alternative photography?

Is nature a collaborator or a commodity in alternative photography processes?

What does it mean to be in relationship with a landscape or a plant for extended periods of time – to witness the interplay between individual species within their ecosystems? What is the role of artistic testimony when witnessing symbiosis within these relationships?

Whether by process or theme, this exhibition documents interspecies relationships – including those between humans and non-humans. Photographic and momentary, they are mid-relationship – we can only guess the before and after.

How do we bear witness to symbiotic relationships between different species, alongside our responsibility to acknowledge that the true definition of symbiosis is both parasitic and mutualistic? Much like alternative photographic processes, balance and equilibrium are essential to symbiosis.

Text: Hayley Harrison
Images: Ky Lewis and Hayley Harrison

Lakeside Darkroom, Show & Tell, Sat 23 September 2-4pm

Date & Time: Saturday 23rd September, 2-4pm.

Venue: Lakeside Darkroom, Studio A-02 Ground floor
Address: Lakeside Centre, Bazalgette Way, London, SE2 9AN

The session provides an opportunity for practitioners using alternative photography processes to share their work with a community of peers. Artists using alternative processes can both give and receive feedback on current projects, share technical tips and provide advice. It’s a popular event and we expect to receive a large amount of submissions. Each participant will have 3 minutes to present their work. Participants must show physical work/prints. Led by Melanie King and Naroa Perez.

Free, please book ahead and email londonaltphoto@gmail.com to confirm your place.

Workshops at Camp Wildfire // Summer 2023

In August and September 2023, the London Alternative Photography Collective will be providing spruce film developer and phytogram workshops at Camp Wildfire in Sevenoaks, Kent. This year, artists providing workshops are Hannah Fletcher, Eileen White, John Blythe, Anna Lukala, Edd Carr, Alice Cazenave, Lucia Ferguson and Dinke Van Der Zalm.

Collective Polyphony Festival

The London Alternative Photography Collective are pleased to be participating in the Collective Polyphony Festival in Melbourne, Australia, from 13 September to 07 October 2023. The contributing artists are Hannah Fletcher, Martha Gray, Melanie King and Katrina Stamatopoulos.

About the festival

Modelling peace-building architecture and infrastructure, the Collective Polyphony Festival is a ground-breaking multi-space event that fosters and nurtures emerging and established artist collectives. It is founded upon the central idea of artists supporting artists.

This extraordinary gathering brings together 10 local and international, emerging and established artist collectives across 7 exhibition spaces.

For Collective Polyphony Festival exhibitions, each collective is encouraged to work within their unique themes and agendas to develop new work or show existing projects. Just as in music, where polyphony weaves together distinct melodies to create a harmonious whole, Collective Polyphony Festival embraces a narrative and artistic approach that welcomes multiple perspectives, voices, and ideas. At a time when many communities are socially and politically fragmented, Collective Polyphony Festival seeks to reimagine the world through a multifaceted but united lens.

Experiments with Lumen Printing with Rachelle Bussieres

Experiments with Lumen Printing, a 3 - part indepth workshop series with artist Rachelle Bussieres.

In this online course, participants will explore various techniques of the lumen print process.

Lumen prints are silver gelatin papers exposed to light and put directly into photographic fixer. Ethereal pastel tones are created by the time of exposure, the type of light, and the kind of paper used in the process. Participants will experiment with different techniques to better understand the factors that influence the colors of the silver gelatin paper, such as lumen print collages, cameraless prints, and digital negatives.

In addition to studio time, participants will receive weekly readings that will be discussed at the beginning of each class. All reading are provided as PDFs. The readings will be sent prior to each session. Participants are asked to present work at the beginning of the 2nd and 3rd session. Therefore, a scanner or any other from of sharing work is recommended.

£150 ticket cost covers all 3 sessions. (£50 per session, plus eventbrite fees)

Session 1 = 03 September 2023 1.30PM - 4.30PM GMT

Session 2 = 10 September 2023 1.30PM - 4.30PM GMT

Session 3 = 17 September 2023 1.30PM - 4.30PM GMT

Tickets Available Here

Materials

- Two trays: a pre-mixed solution of photo fixer (Rachelle recommends Ilford Rapid Fixer) and a tray of plain water for washing.

- Black and white fiber-based photography paper (Rachelle recommends 11x14 inches Ilford multigrade fiber paper (+ optional warm tones photo paper))

- Natural and artificial light

- Contact printing frames (Could easily be built with a plexi-glass board and clippers)

- Drying rack

- Hot press (*optional)

- Photogram materials: cut-outs, your own fingers/hands/feet, organic materials such as flowers and plants, cut-outs, etc.

- Digital negatives - should be ready and printed on pictorico prior to the workshop

Safety

- Gloves

- Apron

Rachelle Bussières (Quebec City, Canada) received her MFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 2015. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Addressing the impact of light on our psyche, environment and social structure, Rachelle Bussières’ work is at the intersection of photography and sculpture, moving through a collision of materials and documents through the lumen photographic process. Bussières is the recipient of the Penumbra Workspace Award from Penumbra Foundation and the Award for Excellence from the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. She has had recent solo exhibitions at Penumbra Foundation (NYC, USA), Johansson Projects (Oakland, USA) and Robert Koch Gallery (San Francisco, USA). Some recent group shows include Seattle Pacific University (Seattle, WA), Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Brooklyn), Soil Gallery (Seattle, WA), the General French Consulate (San Francisco, CA), the Wing (San Francisco, CA), the Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins, CO), Minnesota Street Project (San Francisco, CA), Galerie l’Inlassable (Paris, FR), Headlands Center for the Arts (Sausalito, CA) and Present Company (Brooklyn, NY). She was awarded residencies at Penumbra Foundation, Banff Centre, Minnesota Street Project and Headlands Center for the Arts. Her work is present in various public, corporate and private collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, SFMOMA Library and Archives, Facebook (commission mural) in Sunnyvale, Instagram Inc. in San Francisco and Penumbra Foundation in New York City. She is part of the first cohort in the new residency program at the World Trade Center, the Silver Art Projects and preparing a solo exhibition at Melanie Flood Projects (Portland, OR) in the Spring 2021.

SCHEDULE

03 September 2023 1.30PM - 4.30PM UK BST

Session 1: ABSTRACTION IN PHOTOGRAPHY. THE LEGACY FOR LUMEN PRINT ARTISTS

Artists: Rachelle Bussières, John Steck Jr., Robert Canali, Amanda March and Laurie Kang

Studio: Demonstration. Steps-by-steps; how to achieve colors.

Readings (sent prior to each session): Eliasson, Olafur: “Some Ideas about Colour.” In Olafur Eliasson: Your Colour Memory. Edited by Ismail Soyugenc and Richard Torchia. Exhibition catalogue. Glenside: Arcadia University Art Gallery, 2006: 75-83.

10 September 2023 1.30PM - 4.30PM UK BST

Session 2: FIGURATION WITH LUMENS; THE DIGITAL NEGATIVE

Artists: Chris McCaw, James Welling, Marco Breuer, Michael Flomen, Penelope Umbrico, Roge Newton, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Uta Barth

Studio : Figuration. Contact printing with a digital negative.

Readings (sent prior to each session): Rexer, Lyle. “Chapter 4” in T he Edge of Vision. The Rise of Abstraction in Photography. Aperture Foundation. 2013. New York.

17 September 2023 1.30PM - 4.30PM UK BST

Session 3: LIGHT AND SHADOWS

Artists: Anna Atkins, Aspen Mays, Klea McKenna, Meghann Riepenhoff, John Opera and Mariah Robertson

Studio: Compositions with light and shadows; the 3D object.

Readings (sent prior to each session): Chapter 4 in Argyronomicon by Mike Ware

10 Years of LAPC!

We want to welcome all of those who have been involved with LAPC over the years to celebrate with us as we mark 10 years of promoting and supporting the creative possibilities of analogue and experimental photography.

Location: SET Kensington, 7-17 Ansdell St, London, W8 5BN

We invite you bring along an alternative processes self-portrait to exhibit in the space as well as any beverages you wish to enjoy.

We will hear from 3 artists over the course of the evening:

Sayako Sugawara, Sayako Sugawara is a London based Japanese artist working with photography, moving image and installation. Born in Milan, she completed both her BFA and MFA at Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan, followed by MA Photography at UAL London.

Using various photographic processes and the cognitive associations that occur in the physical aspect of creative development, her work explores notions of memory and imagination, analysis and poetics, stillness and movement.

Sayako has exhibited internationally (BE, CH,CN, DE, ES, JP, NL) in both solo and group shows; most recently a solo show at Ibasho Gallery, Antwerp, BE and had works included in the London Alternative Photography Collective group show Beyond Silver.

Soham Joshi, is an Indian visual artist living in Brighton, UK. He uses cameraless and alternative photographic techniques to explore urbanity and identity. His research relates materiality in photography to how we situate ourselves within the urban landscape.

Sophie Bryer, is a transdisciplinary, conceptual artist exploring the relationship of art with science through an autoethnographic approach. With a background in philosophy, she redefines portraiture and identity through the examination of their negative space – delving into the influence of one’s environment, the enduring impact we have on others and in our creations, and the remnants and emotional resonance that persist in our absence. Inspired by post-structuralist constructivism, Sophie abstracts and investigates themes of memory and legacy with materiality – creating installation works which integrate photography, etching, and sculpture of steel and thread.

We look forward to celebrating and reflecting back over the past 10 years with you all!

Beyond Silver

Venue: The Hive, 43-47 Vittoria St, Birmingham, B1 3PE.
Dates:19th January - 10 Feb 2023.
Exhibition opening times:
Tuesday to Friday, 9am to 3.30pm. (Cafe open hours)

Installation images: Elissa Jane Diver

Metals and minerals are of the earth - extracted, purified, dried, cut, mould, extruded, dissolved and filtered. Photographic images are of the earth, they are metals and minerals, polished, coated, sensitised, exposed, developed, washed, fixed, displayed. We rely on the sensitivity of these metals to depict the world around us, the earth that they come from. 

Silver has taken a leading role in this history - it is a history of colonisation, extraction, and depiction. From Louis Daguerre’s Daguerreotypes to Henry Fox Talbot’s calotypes in the early 1800s, to today's digital Chromogenic prints - silver is seen as unbeatable when it comes to making a quality, archivable photographic image. However, silver is not the only metal used for image making.

The London Alternative Photography Collective present “Beyond Silver”, an exhibition that explores the relationships between analogue photography and metallurgy. The exhibition will consider the use of silver in photography, as well as shining a light on many of the other metals that are used within photographic image production, in both historical and contemporary practice. In addition to silver, the exhibition will include works which utilise  lesser known metals in photography including iron, copper, tin, aluminium, platinum and palladium.

Exhibiting artists: Ignacio Acosta, Victoria Ahrens, William Arnold, Alex Boyd, Alice Cazenave, Caitriona Dunnett, Hannah Fletcher, Jo Gane, Kate Goodrich, Martha Gray, Charlotte Greenwood, Constanza Isaza,Elissa Jane Diver, Soham Joshi, Melanie King, Liane Lang, Sara Mulvey, Andrés Pardo, Oliver Raymond-Barker, Megan Ringrose, Kris Skyla, Sayako Sugawara, Diego Valente, Eileen White

Public Programme:

Wednesday 18th 6 - 8pm = Private view
Thursday 19th 10am - 12pm = Electromagnetic field Cyanotype workshop with Martha Gray
Thursday 19th 12.30 - 1.30pm = Artist/curator led exhibition tour

This exhibition is supported by Canterbury Christ Church University, the Exeter Sustainability Institute, Falmouth University and the University of Birmingham.

Text: Hannah Fletcher

Transmutation Exhibition at The Margate School

Exhibition Open: 12th January 2023 - 19th January 2023, 10am - 4pm

Opening Party: 12 January 2023, 6-8pm. 35mm exhibition opening photos by Katrina Stamatopoulos, digital photos by The Margate Mercury.

Artists:

Tina Rowe
Laura Copsey
Pawel Kula
Priysha Rajvanshi
Katrina Stamatopoulos
Anthony Carr
Sapphire Goss
Zara Carpenter
Natalie Keymist
Dominic Rose
Jenny Duff
Michelle Grant
Charlotte Padgham
Esme Morris
Rachel Rimell
Clementine Blue & Joseph Ball
Isaac Alfred
Grace Warne
Jo de Banzie
Rosalba Breazeale
Becky Korn & Anastasia Shneps-Shneppe
Nicole Burnay
David Babaian
Sebastian Edge

The London Alternative Photography Collective and Thanet Alternative Photography Collective presents Transmutation, an exhibition of works produced using experimental, analogue and alternative photographic processes. An alchemical underpinning of transformation, creation, or combination is central to the show while simultaneously fusing a range of disciplines, including sound, sculpture, technology and performance. Positioning analogue photographic practice as a physical three-dimensional agent. 

This transdisciplinary exhibition proposes photography as a dynamic, light sensitive, explorative medium for navigating our world. Photography which is made to remember and to forget. It has incredible dualistic qualities that can ask us to look in another way, look again, or to even look away. As a physical translation of optics, photography’s relationship to being two dimensional can be framed by the materiality of paper, and by the digital nature of screens. It will always be dualistic.  Angular lines and rectangular formats typically harness photographic perceptions, and the networked image continuously repositions photography, in displacing it through time and space. 

It is important to free ideologies of what makes a photograph, and to relax into the potential materiality of what being light sensitive can be. (Text: Diego Valente)

Information about The Margate School (TMS) Gallery and Events Space

The Margate School (TMS) Gallery and Events Space is part of TMS, an independent and international post-graduate liberal arts school based in the heart of Margate at the lower end of the high street. It is on the ground floor, and accessible to the public with wheelchair access.

It features a large gallery/cafe area and a grand piano, an auditorium with cinema seats and audio visual facilities. There is also a workshop area with tables and chairs. The Gallery and Events space is facing the high street, with large windows. Also located on the ground floor are our hirable darkrooms, and a kiln which can be used by the public on enquiry with our technician together with studio spaces.

Information about the London Alternative Photography Collective

The London Alternative Photography Collective provides regular artist talks on the subject of analogue & alternative photography processes used in contemporary art. The collective supports practitioners who challenge traditional ways of printing images to reflect on contemporary issues. The London Alternative Photography collective is also a platform for exchange of knowledge and skills, as well as creative ideas and exhibition concepts. We regularly curate exhibitions and run affordable/free workshops and demonstrations and organise symposiums in London.

Organised by:

Melanie King (TAPC, LAPC)
Dominic Rose (The Margate School)
Hannah Fletcher, Diego Valente, Katrina Stamatopoulos (LAPC)
Emily Rose Parris (TAPC)
Artists chosen via an open call on Curatorspace.

Workshops at Camp Wildfire // Summer 2022

On Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 August 2022 and 03 & 04 September 2022, the London Alternative Photography Collective will be providing spruce film developer and phytogram workshops at Camp Wildfire in Sevenoaks, Kent. The workshops will be facilitated by Hannah Fletcher, Melanie King, John Blythe, Eileen White, Diego Valente, Lewis Heriz and Lucia Ferguson.

Precious Metals // Online Seminar with Photofusion

On Friday 29 July, Melanie King will present a seminar which broadly considers the use of precious metals in astronomy, photography, jewellery, and engineering. The seminar discusses a range of issues surrounding extractivism and colonialism, relating to the current unsustainable uses of silver, palladium, and other heavy metals.

Alice Cazenave will discuss her doctoral research and practice, looking at neo-colonial resource extraction.

Dr Leah-Nani Alconcel will discuss her experience with metallurgy as a spacecraft engineer, and lecturer in metallurgy.

Dr Ignacio Acosta will speak about his “Copper Geographies” project, and his collaborative project “Traces of Nitrate”.

Artist Runo Lagomarsino will discuss his project “La place entre les murs”, a series of photographs and silver sculpture which has been made from silver extracted from fixative.

Artist and Jewellery designer Charlotte E Padgham will discuss jewellery created using discarded silver from photographic fixer.

Artist Oliver Raymond Barker will discuss his recent residency at the Exeter Sustainability Institute, looking at sustainable uses of silver within photographic practice.

Astronomer Dr Camilla Hansen will discuss her astronomical research, which demonstrates how precious metals such as silver and palladium can only be formed in high energy stellar events, such as supernova explosions.

Finally, Melanie King will discuss the work produced as part of her “Precious Metals” exhibition at Photofusion, of which this seminar is part. This project considers the materiality of silver and palladium, from their production within the cosmos, extraction from Earth and their uses within our society. This project focuses on silver and palladium use in photography, suggesting methods of using the materials that are less harmful to the environment.

The seminar is supported by Arts Council England and Melanie King’s Patreon supporters.

Sustainable Photographic Processes Seminar // Canterbury Christ Church University

SUSTAINABLE PHOTOGRAPHIC PRACTICES

Powell Lecture Theatre
PG09, Canterbury Christ Church University
Monday 04 July 2022.
14:00 – 17:00 

2pm Introduction by Melanie King
2.15 Alice Cazenave Talk & Q+A 
3.15 Break for refreshments and cakes 
3.45 Hannah Fletcher Talk & Q+A 
4.45 Closing Remarks

In this seminar, Alice Cazenave, Hannah Fletcher and Melanie King will discuss the sustainability of photographic practice. This seminar will consider a multitude of practice-based methods, that limit the environmental impact of analogue photographic processes. 

Alice Cazenave Is a Doctoral Researcher in Visual Anthropology at the University of Goldsmiths, London. She is an associate lecturer on the MA in Visual Communication at Canterbury Christ Church University Alice's research focuses on the materiality of photography, specifically silver. Her project traces silver's movements through temporalities, geologies and climates to consider entanglements between media matter and the Anthropocene. Tracing journeys of photographic silver, Alice examines where it is sourced, its toxicity, and how it mobilises to enable analogue industries. Alice draws on experimental image-making as a material enquiry into these entanglements. Alice’s photographic work  has been published in The British Journal of Photography and The Guardian and the New York Times. Co-developing the Sustainable Darkroom, she researches plant-based chemistries as substitutes for traditional darkroom materials. She has exhibited internationally and given talks at multiple institutions including The Science Museum.

Hannah Fletcher is a London based artist, working with cameraless photographic processes, founder of The Sustainable Darkroom, Co-director of London Alternative Photography Collective and a facilitator of sustainability within the arts. Hannah Fletcher’s work intertwines organic matter such as soils, algae, mushrooms and roots into analogue photographic mediums and surfaces. She does this while simultaneously exploring environmentally and ecologically focused issues. Working in an investigative, pseudo-scientific and environmentally conscious manner, Hannah combines scientific techniques with photographic processes, creating a dialogue between the poetic and political. Most recently, she has initiated and is running The Sustainable Darkroom Project; an artist run research, training and mutual learning programme to equip cultural practitioners with new skills and knowledge to develop a more environmentally friendly analogue photography / darkroom practice. Tackling issues including, but not limited to; the volumes of water used to wash films and prints, the resin coated paper going to landfill, the harsh development and fixing chemicals and heavy metals polluting soils and aquatic systems, bovine gelatine coating paper and films. 

Melanie King is a Lecturer in Photography at Canterbury Christ Church University. She is co-Director of super/collider, Lumen Studios and founder of the London Alternative Photography Collective. She is currently Artist In Residence at the School of Metallurgy and Materials at The University of Birmingham, from Feb 2021 to June 2022. Melanie is a PhD Candidate at the Royal College of Art (2015-2022). Melanie is interested in the relationship between the environment, photography and materiality.  Melanie intends to highlight the intimate connection between celestial objects (sun, moon, stars), photographic material and the natural world. Melanie is currently researching a number of sustainable photographic processes, to minimise the environmental impact of her artistic practice, informed by the Sustainable Darkroom movement. Melanie's 2021-2022 project "Precious Metals" considers the materiality of silver and palladium, from the production of silver and palladium within the cosmos, extraction from Earth and its uses within our society. This project focuses on their use in photography, suggesting methods of using the material that is less harmful to the ecology of the Earth

In residence at ÖRES // Örö Island, Finland

This April, 3 of our members; Hannah Fletcher, Alice Cazenave and Noora Sandgren are in residence at at ÖRES Residency, located on Örö Island, a former military fortress island in the Archipelago National Park of Finland. The artists-run programme focuses on new and experimental fields of art, art-science collaborations and interdisciplinary projects.

They are using the month there to research low-toxicity and enviromentally friendly photographic processes that can be done using the limited resources the Island has to offer. To collate all of the research, they will be producing a locally riso-printed zine. Enabling the information and knowledge of materials, processes and ideas, to be shared with and used by locals and visitors of the region.

Lomography X London Alt Photo // Feature Series

The London Alternative Photography Collective is pleased to announce an online collaboration with Lomography Magazine.

Features

Cutting and Folding With Aliki Braine
Andrés Pardo from CuriosoLab
Dafna Talmor

Lichen Art Labs Walkshop

A workshop in connection with WHAT ON EARTH exhibition, currently on at The Koppel Project Exchange, Piccadilly.

Sat, 24 July 2021

13:00 – 14:30 UK BST

193 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9EU

Tickets: £5.80

London Alternative Photography Collective and The Koppel Project Exchange are excited to welcome Lucy Sabin for a workshop aiming to provide an introduction to urban lichens and recording techniques.

Activities will attune participants to the kinds of conditions to which lichens respond, particularly air pollution. In an artistic way, the workshop will draw upon citizen science resources from the OPAL Air Survey. First you will develop the art of noticing in Green Park, second conduct an artistic survey using creative techniques comparing lichen communities. Third, you will explore microcosms and experience with close-up recording techniques using magnifiers to produce intimate images.

The workshop commences at 1pm at The Koppel Project Exchange and will shortly be followed by a 7min walk to Green Park where the remaining workshop will take place.

All materials provided.
The cost of this workshop goes towards covering material costs.

Lucy Sabin is an artist–researcher whose work explores the interplay between media and environments, with a particular focus on themes of atmospheres and breathing. Her emerging practice has been featured by BBC Radio 4 and BBC Arts. Lucy has also been selected by Arts Council England as an awardee of Developing Your Creative Practice. Drawing upon an MRes in Communication Design from the Royal College of Art, Lucy is undertaking doctoral research in the UCL Department of Geography with support from the London Arts and Humanities Partnership.

WHAT ON EARTH

WHAT ON EARTH
The Koppel Project Exchange
2 – 25 July 2021
PV 1 July 2021 | 6-9pm

Curated by Ellen Taylor in collaboration with Hannah Fletcher
Exhibiting artists: Victoria Ahrens | Katie Bret-Day | Alice Cazenave | Hannah Fletcher | Ramona Güntert | Melanie King | Liz K Miller | Diego Valente | Marina Vitaglione

WHAT ON EARTH brings together a selection of works exploring how the environmental and sustainability crisis we face today can be both encountered and addressed through non-representational and medium-forward forms. Most photographic responses to the climate crisis take the path of documentation, as there is indeed a lot to document. Photography as an art form, however, has always been more than documentarian, and has always had an impact that derives much of its force from factors other than the subject in the frame. WHAT ON EARTH aims to highlight the work of artists who explore this through non-representational and material forms.

‘The materiality of the photograph takes two broad and interrelated forms. First, it is the plasticity of the image itself, its chemistry, the paper it is printed on, the toning, the resulting surface variations. Such technical and physical choices in making photographs are seldom random (Edwards, E. and Hard, J. 2004).

There have been many theoretical debates regarding the photograph’s status as a three- dimensional object, and craft, as a result of advances in post-and-during-capture digital manipulation technology. Through the creation of ‘concrete photography’ this show aims to explore this whilst also demonstrating how the materiality of a photograph can, though the image making process, be both influenced by our culture’s environment and act as a visual representation. In the context of the environmental crisis we face in today’s society, these exhibiting artists use elements from our rapidly changing environment to inform their image making process, both physically and conceptually.

The artists featured in WHAT ON EARTH use a range of methods and materials derived from the traditional photographic process but developing it to a more tangible and materialistic one, investigating how a combination of visual, audio, tactile, olfactory stimuli can enhance our connection to our environment. This approach to working with materials, and the respect we gain for our environment through the process of touch, is a philosophy that should not be limited to the hand of the artist, but should be normalised within our culture. As it is through this tactility and engagement of the senses that we truly start to understand the earth that we live on and live with.

The Koppel Project Exchange

193 Piccadilly

London W1J 9EU

Unstable/Sustainable at FORMAT

Unstable/Sustainable is a re-invented exhibition. It was originally staged at Format Festival by the London Alternative Photography Collective in 2015. This earlier exhibition included a number of photographic works, which gradually changed chemically during the course of the exhibition.

For the 2021 edition of Unstable at Format Festival, all exhibited works will be produced using sustainable photographic processes. Within the LAPC’s Sustainable Darkroom research project, we have been working with a number of ephemeral photography processes which are notoriously difficult to fix.

Photography has a fixation with permanence, which doesn’t exist to the same degree within other art forms. Now that photography is becoming more of an interdisciplinary field, is it always necessary to stabilise our images? In this new era of biodegradable materials, is it not more sensible to create work that can be recycled?

Dates for Online Exhibition: March 12, 2021 to March 23, 2023
Dates for Physical Exhibition: May 17, 2021 to June 13, 2021
Venue: The Small Print Company, Friary Villas 2-3 Friary Street Derby, DE1 1JF

Artists:

Noemi Filetti
Chloe Obermeyer
Hannah Fletcher
Melanie King
Diego Valente
Nettie Edwards
Ryan Moule 
Kim Conway

Collaboration and cross-disciplinary practices Talk

Thursday, 25 Feb 2021
18:30 – 20:00 GMT
Tickets.

The London Alternative Photography Collective invite you to a talk which discusses the relevance of collaborative and cross-disciplinary modes of working when thinking about a sustainable and conscious creative practice. Joined by Jemma Foster, Laura Copsey and Emily Rudge, a collaborative trio coming from different disciplines. They share knowledge and skills that cover - botany, astro-herbalism, photography, film, music and art therapy.

Laura, Emily and Jemma met in 2019 and share an interest in the alchemy of plants and their potential within creative processes. After taking part in LAPC’s 2020 Sustainable Darkroom, they since formed a collective, working out of the Wild Alchemy Lab and taking part in various workshops and residencies.

Their ongoing research into camera-less photography explores eco-developers and fixatives to “draw with light” made with organic plant-based eco developers, fixatives and natural inks to create bespoke artefact images. Their intention is to showcase alternative photosensitive ingredients - ie. rose-hip, sea buckthorn and seaweed - (used to replace traditional processing chemicals). They have a particular interest in creating sensory experiences using edible items that also have image making potential. Running workshops that involve experimental camera-less photography combined with taster menu's and bespoke drinks as an accompaniment made from the ingredients used to create visual responses that document the experience.

Their ingredients are often foraged and seasonal, taking inspiration from the alchemical elements, the tarot and the stars. They believe in the magical properties of plants and nature as their guide to navigating an uncertain future. They hope to inspire people to create art sustainably and in symbiosis with the natural world.

Donations welcome which go directly to the speakers.

wildalchemylab.com