Joe Gelder

My practice is rooted in the lived experience within the natural world. The agency of my work lies in the hands of the landscape, and the themes and concepts I approach emerge through my own experience within these natural sites. The theory of phenomenology is key to my practice, where bodily presence and duration help shape the outcome of my documentations. Working with analogue photography techniques, my outcomes explore the natural texture, form and sculptural qualities that appear through prolonged interaction with a landscape. These processes create outcomes that encourage the viewers to see the landscape not as a subject, but as active, sculptural spaces.

Often manipulating natural and artificial light, my work abstracts the landscape from its increasingly familiar context, helping to disconnect the audience from their previous perceptions of a space. The ritualistic nature of the the Scottish landscapes I immerse myself in is echoed through my own processes of documentation, through self-built rituals, I interact with the natural landscape, allowing for a deeper, more informed experience of production.