The Active Image: Political Ecologies & Photographic Agency

A collaborative exhibition with the Sustainable Darkroom and Folk House Darkroom at CREATE Centre. Curated by Alice Cazenave, Hannah Fletcher, and Sophie Sherwood. The exhibition will be open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm between the 6th and the 26th of September and is free to enter. 
 

The exhibition includes artworks that explore social, colonial, and ecological issues spanning the globe, across Palestine, Europe, Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia), and beyond. The works showcased acknowledge the toxicity of traditional photographic chemistries, and how these link to wider social and ecological violences.

The exhibition showcases artworks made with experimental chemistries mixed from plants growing in the contaminated landscapes that they image. Pigments are mixed from cochineal insects, that sit at the centre of landscapes contoured and recontoured by settler-colonialism. We’re excited to exhibit this selection of artists whose works redirect attention to both material and social issues embedded in photography.

Selected artists:

Matthew Beach

Francisco Gonzalez Camacho

Alice Cazenave

Gabriella Demczuk 

Tao Douay & Adrien Pontet

Hannah Fletcher

Natalie Goulet

Rachel Guardiola

Wendy Hardie

Maya Hershey

Emily Joy

Leela Keshav

Lizzie King

Melanie King

Anna Rosa Krau

Gal Leshem

Anna Lukala

Julian Micallef 

Marta Michalowska

Poster image by Marta Michalowska