Did you know that 11th February  was International Day of Women and Girls in Science?

No? Nor did I. Not until I attended the Royal Photographic Society's 'Woman Science Photographer of the Year' awards in Bristol.

What has science got to do with photography? I hear you thinking.

Well...... photography has been used to document scientific processes, and also in scientific and medical imaging. But it is also used to raise awareness of scientific issues, and amongst these, which is where I come in, comes raising awareness of environmental issues.

So it was a great honour to have one of my 'Shore Life' series chosen as a finalist in the RPS Woman Science photographer of the Year 2023 competition. The image above shows ghost fishing gear  collected from the shore at Camber Sands beach. Discarded fishing gear is just one of the many issues affecting our seas and oceans. Sewage discharges , plastic pollution and farming practices are others. We read about it daily in our newspapers, and yet change is slow to come.

This is all quite heavy and serious, but the presentations at the RPS women in photography group's  'Woman Science Photographer of the Year' were both uplifting and inspiring.

First up a live Zoom interview with Rhiannon Adam 'Space Cowboy'. Talking to us from the middle of the night in America, Rhiannon described how she has been selected as the only female artist to go on a space mission for a new space-inspired art project #dearMoon hosted by Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese entrepreneur. This will be the first civilian mission to the moon and Mars, and on board will be 8 artists selected form one million worldwide. Rhiannon describes the trip as a 'blue marble moment', with artists reflecting on the earth from afar.

 

Wow!

All my own adventures pale into insignificance at the thought of this mission. Rhiannon plans to use analogue methods of photography in a zero gravity environment. That in itself is extraordinary.
She expects to go into orbit either this year or next. I can't wait to see how she gets on.

​We heard, too, from photographer Fanny Beckman about her project 'Women in Science'.

Fanny was invited to make portraits of women scientists at the Centre for Gene Therapy at Kings College Hospital. Fanny described the 'leaky pipe' that is the journey followed by women in science to the top of their profession. The fallout along the way due to prejudice, other commitments and imposter syndrome means that few reach the top of their career ladder.

​Encouraging girls at schools to aspire to a science career was one goal for this project. 

​Fanny recommends the Netflix Documentary 'Picture a Scientist' (2020) for a deeper dive into this topic.

So who was the winner of this year's competition?

It was Margaret LeJeune, from the US, with her 'watershed triptych'.


The images highlight another aspect of water pollution in our rivers; pollutants from farming practices. The method of capturing these images is quite extraordinary; to use Margaret's own words..... as I don't think I can edit them without losing the sense of her summary...

Margaret says......

'Watershed Triptych harnesses the light of bioluminescent dinoflagellates to illuminate watershed maps from the United States Geological Survey Hydromap project. These organisms, colloquially known as sea sparkle, are also the same marine life that generate red tide algal blooms. Though sometimes naturally occurring, these harmful blooms have been increasing in numbers over the past 30 years as larger and more powerful storms flood factory farms causing excessive nutrients to spill into the waterways from CAFO overflows. These maps represent the three largest watersheds in the United States and the outflow areas where algal blooms have been recorded.'


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Using 'sea sparkle' to illuminate the maps of watersheds was challenging, and keeping the organisms happy in the laboratory took patience and much experimentation.

Having listened to Margaret's story I feel challenged to think of new ways to express my personal concerns for the environment. It is not easy to be truly innovative. All we can do is keep trying to find ways to raise awareness without sounding like a broken record.

So I came away from my day in Bristol feeling humbled, and inspired.

You can see more of the selected imageshere.

Meanwhile, I am slowly building up my 'Shore Life' series, from which my 'Ghost Fishing Gear' image was selected.

Here are a couple of recent ones....   one contains a plastic brush found washed up on the beach, and the other a sparkly sandal left by a visitor.


​I'll let you work out which is which.  

Happy New Near! 

I wonder if you felt as jaded as I did at the end of 2022?
I had lost my creative mojo, and was struggling to remain positive about my creative endeavours.

Having launched my online  book making course, which had taken many hours of work to create, I simply ran out of steam. And then I caught covid (again), which totally knocked any remaining stuffing out of me. 

My other half (OH) and I travelled to Canada for Christmas, to see our children. When we left I was still recovering. We had a few days in the desert of Arizona because OH thought it would be a warm and sunny place to get over our jet lag before heading north to Vancouver.

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It turned out to be below freezing much of the time, with snow on the ground. I never thought to see cacti blanketed with snow. My thermal clothes for the  mountains of Vancouver came in very handy. A few days later we headed north, to the snowy mayhem of the mountains.

We arrived at our daughter's home in Vancouver a few hours before a snowfall of some 12 inches,  stepping out the next morning to a winter wonderland, befitting Narnia.

OH spent hours clearing the drive with a shovel, as did everyone else in the neighbourhood. Icy driveways and steep hills do not make for a good mix. Canadian law demands that you keep the sidewalk clear of snow outside your home too. 

For a couple of days we barely ventured out. Larger branches were breaking and falling in the forest due to the weight of snow, which made for anxious walking.

​Bears in summer...... snow in winter...... that's Canada for you.

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Once we could get out, OH and I made a trip downtown to walk at Beaver Lake.

I have never seen it frozen before. Low cloud on the ice made it very atmospheric.

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The beaver dam was clearly visible emerging from the icy water.


Then the rain came, and washed all the snow away. 
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​As the days passed, filled with family activities, card games and shared meals, I began to feel more like my usual self. I reflected on the benefits of taking time out from creative practice, to recharge my batteries, and to take the pressure off for a while. 

Creative lulls are normal; even when fighting fit. Most artists experience them intermittently. 

They are hard to predict, but often come after a burst of activity. Recognising this, and finding other ways to pass the time is the best way forward in my experience.

Before leaving home I had filled my period of recovery from covid with different activities, that didn't require too much effort, but that still had a creative element.

Be kind to yourself. Accept the lack of creativity as normal. Spend time with friends, go to the cinema, listen to poetry podcasts, go for walks. I tried all of these.

I visited the Tate to see the beautiful  'Dead Forest Quipu' sculptures by Cecilia Vicuna. A quipu is an ancient Inca device for recording information using different ways of knotting coloured threads. Words expressed without writing. 

I found the work an incredibly moving expression of concern for the future of her native forests. It encouraged me to pursue further my work about the coastal environment.



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One evening I learnt how to make a paper bag book, using sandwich bags from the supermarket. This was surprisingly therapeutic. Cutting and sticking is something that feels very calming. 

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I chose random images from old magazines, coupled with words that felt appropriate. It turned into a book about waiting to feel better, and the colour blue. The subconscious has a lot to answer for.

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I enjoyed the ability to hide words inside the openings of the bags, making for a more subtle read.

I also took a very good online course on creating a cinematic look using colour in photography with Teresa Freitas on the website Domestika.

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Teresa uses a pastel, slightly dreamlike colour palette in her photographs, and I really enjoyed understanding the theory behind her images. She discusses the role of colour in cinema, and suggests a number of useful tools for approaching colour when processing images and researching locations. 

I experimented with some earlier images from Spain, trying to emulate her work. Trying to emulate the  work of an artist that you admire is a great way to explore new ideas and techniques. 

​Whilst abroad I didn't attempt to be creative. And that in itself was a good thing. 

A complete break. Walking and exploring without intent.

​A total refresh.

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​And now that we are home again I feel ready to jump back onto that creative bandwagon. I don't know what 2023 will bring, but I am hoping to surprise myself with new ideas and goals. 

I feel another dragon book coming on........ what about you?

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