Bristol Folkhouse Darkroom Residency supported by Cavan Arts

The artistic process is a fickle thing, but a residency is a tried and tested way to sit with it, stretch it, and occasionally surprise yourself with where it leads. I’ve just completed a two-week residency at the Bristol Folkhouse Darkroom, generously supported by Cavan Arts Office, who helped with travel and accommodation so I could fully immerse myself in the work.

Over the fortnight, I kept both a written and digital diary which I’ll be returning to and unpacking over the coming months. In brief, I shot around a dozen rolls of film, developed them in the darkroom, and made prints from that new work. I visited the Martin Parr Foundation and spent some time in their library, so thank you very much to the team for facilitating me at this difficult time. Alongside more traditional processes, I spent much of my time experimenting with lower-toxicity and more sustainable developers: an oat-based developer, a version of caffenol, and a semi-solid developer made from wood ash and coffee grinds. These experiments were as much about time and patience as they were about chemistry—waiting for slow reactions, tweaking dilutions, and accepting that not every print will behave as expected.

The residency also became a way to think through place and history. I researched and photographed Bristol’s skateboarding subculture, the city’s protest and enslavement histories, and the harbour itself, all while keeping in mind the 300-year anniversary of the publication of Gulliver’s Travels. In Swift’s book, Gulliver departs from Bristol, and it is thought that Jonathan Swift wrote a significant portion of the text near Mullagh in Cavan—so this project became a dialogue between two locations that continue to inform my practice.

All of this, and more, will be expanded on in future posts and projects as the work settles and the films, prints, and notes begin to speak to each other. If you’re interested in the connection between Jonathan Swift and Cavan, I’ll be part of a Cavan Arts Office Zoom presentation on Monday 9th February, where I’ll talk about why I think Jonathan Swift picked Bristol for Gulliver to start his travels.