Seeds

2024

The prints in this series have been made at locations with links to our ancestral past, by placing seeds in direct contact with photographic paper whilst exposing it to sunlight. Afterwards, the seeds (possibly descended from plants that grew in the vicinity when these sites were first in use) are returned to the earth, and so the cycle continues. Seeds signify life, germination, growth, fertility, dormancy, mortality, potential, optimism and time. The circular image appears astronomical - but also reminiscent of a biological specimen on a petri-dish or the view through a microscope. It suggests scientific exploration, experimentation and documentation. Utilising sunlight to make the exposures and working outdoors with natural materials, the quality of the resulting image is dependent upon many variables, most of which can't be controlled. The form taken by the developing image is dependent upon brightness, light quality, heat, moisture levels, the translucency and size of the seeds, and their chemical compositions. The lumen print remains light-sensitive, so the original is stored in the dark - catalogued and archived with the date, location and plant details.

Greater Plantain Seeds, Barbury Castle, Wiltshire (c.700 BCE). 16 November 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Nettle Seeds, Hampstead Norreys Castle, West Berkshire (c.1086 CE). 27 October 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Silver Birch Seeds, Caesar’s Camp, Berkshire (c.500-700 BCE). 20 August 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Dock Seeds, Burrough Hill Fort, Leicestershire (c.1200 BCE). 17 August 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Grass Seeds, Lincoln Castle (1086 BCE). 15 August 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Ribwort Plantain Seeds, Wittenham Clumps, Oxfordshire (c.600 BCE). 28 July 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Grass Seeds, Reading Abbey Ruins, Berkshire (1164 CE). 27 June 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Wild Chervil Seeds, Silchester Roman City Walls and Ampitheatre, Hampshire (c.43-650 CE). 2 June 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Grass Seeds, Woodhenge, Wiltshire (c.2500 BCE). 8 April 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Dock Seeds, Old Sarum, Wiltshire (c.400 BCE). 7 April 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Lesser Burdock Seeds, The King’s Men Stone Circle, Oxfordshire (c.3000-2200 BCE). 31 March 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

Grass Seeds, The Whispering Knights Tomb, Oxfordshire (c.3800 BCE). 31 March 2024. Unprocessed Lumen Print.

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