GROWTH
I began photographing urban landscapes — trees, weeds, shrubs and other vegetation attempting to grow in unlikely places. At times invasive, at times reclaiming, at times succumbing, it was hard to know whether to champion these subjects. There is a fine line between what is deemed invasive and what is merely reclaiming a rightful environment. Who am I to judge which side should prevail? They are all survivors.
Emerging through asphalt, suffocated by electrical wires, trapped between buildings, standing proud even in defeat, they are both accommodating and unyielding. I respect them. For me, it’s difficult to think of plants as invasive. But in these contexts, deeply embedded in the industrial urban fabric, the greenery is out of context and what doesn’t belong.
These urban landscapes are paired with photographs of plants designated as “invasive” and images of my own body made by a robotic camera.
"‘Growth’ is an intelligent and complex response to our ambiguous relationship with nature; something we seek to control through our gardening, and forestry skills, yet still have a romantic attachment to the wildness of its seas and rugged untamed landscapes."
Bridget Coaker, Troika Editions
“Growth,” the Book
Growth, the book is now sold out.