A new exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London plays host to a collection of eco-conscious photographers and filmmakers, whose works aim to create communicative boundaries between art and the environment.

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‘Metamorphosis: Innovation in Eco Photography & Film’ will run at the Sloane Square gallery until 28 July and features work from the artists Almudena Romero, Edd Carr, Hannah Fletcher, and Scott Hunter.

All the works on show blend traditional artistic mediums with the goal of eco-friendly practices. Photography has historically been an ecologically wasteful medium – from the unsustainable toxic chemicals used in development to the manufacture and disposal of camera equipment, photography has been relatively environmentally unfriendly.

Participants in the exhibition have shown the ways that the field can be improved. The artists have developed more environmentally friendly techniques as well as conscientious approaches to the materials needed to work.

Almudena Romero, a British-Spanish photographer, “uses naturally occurring photographic processes including photoperiodicity, photobleaching and photosynthesis. The resulting works often take the form of delicate leaves which hold printed images. These are encased in resin so they can be touched and handled, like fossils.”

The result is a beautiful collection of photographs that juxtapose the fragile intricacies of nature with human physicality. The human imprint on nature is literal in Romero’s work.

Also in the exhibition is moving image artist Edd Carr, co-director of Sustainable Darkroom, an organisation that researches and develops eco-friendly photography alternatives.

Carr “uses these methods to create films that comment on the human relationship to ecological crisis and the mass extinction of life, and the resulting trauma we face as a species.”

Sustainable Darkroom’s founder and executive director Hannah Fletcher is also exhibited at the gallery. She brings combinations of organic and waste materials together to create ornate and unexpected structures which she photographs. According to her website, “Fletcher questions the life cycle and value of materials by incorporating waste from her studio and workshops back into the system of making.” 

Finally, Scott Hunter brings his practice of experimental photography, scientific processes, and ecological research which “challenges anthropocentrism by creating new representations of the landscape that contest traditional attitudes of landscape photography,” Cargo Collective writes. He focuses on using organic materials to process photographs beyond the traditional toxic methods.

The exhibition is sponsored by Pasqua Wines, an Italian winery making its first international artistic collaboration. “We believe that creativity needs to be cultivated with love and care, just like the land,” said Riccardo Pasqua, CEO of the company. Each of the artists demonstrates what we have always believed to be true – that through experimentation and pushing boundaries we can unlock progress.”

‘Metamorphosis: Innovation in Eco Photography & Film’ will run at the Saatchi Gallery until 28 July.

Growing up on the island of Mauritius, off Africa’s south-east coast, Dominique Pierre-Nina was a long way from the world of creating images for fashion magazines.

But, encouraged by an aunt, he has spent his life dabbling in photography, as a serious hobbyist taking both fashion and landscape portraits.

“When I was a kid, my aunt, who migrated to the UK, came back to the island with a camera that she gave to me as a gift, and I started taking photographs,” said Dominique, who now lives at Jamberoo on the NSW South Coast.

Apart from the camera gifted to him, Dominique also became intrigued by a local photographer on Mauritius who would take his family’s portraits with 4×5-inch large format camera. A hood would cover the photographer as he took the shots.

“I was intrigued by how this man would cover his head and the next thing you knew an image would appear,” Dominique says.

It wasn’t until he was in his late 30s that Dominique completed a darkroom course and moved from amateur to hobbyist, occasionally selling his photographs.

“The natural progression is that you get your own darkroom so you can control the contrast, the developing time and experiment,” he says.

What is large format photography?

Large format cameras are impressive to look at and, after a little practice and experimentation, relatively simple to operate.

The device has no automatic features and instead rely on the operator to compose, focus and correctly expose an image by setting the aperture, shutter and film speed manually.

“With digital you have all the information at your fingertips, you can over or under expose, change the composition, it happens in a split of a second, but with large format photography, we don’t have that luxury,” Dominique says.

Large format photography starts with 4×5 inch sheets of film that are inserted into holders, rather than packaged as rolls, like 35mm film.

“Don’t start experimenting with large format if you are not a competent photographer because you’ll just tear your hair out,” Dominque says.

Autumn light

In autumn, the rolling green hills of Jamberoo and surrounds beckon to Dominique and he ventures out to capture the exquisite light with his large format camera.

While he favours landscape photography, Dominque also enjoys the challenge of shooting in urban environments.

“If I am walking around urban environments, I take street photography, which incorporates portraits, street scenes, anything, as long as the composition is there, the light is there, and all these elements come together.

“Now, when you are on the street, things are happening fast so you have to be pretty snappy.

“But in terms of landscape you can take your time to compose the image, wait for the right light, which large format allows you to do because you are on a tripod, nothing is moving, things are static unless it’s a windy day.”

‘The dance’

Dominique says experimenting with large format can be frustrating and costly but it also takes time, and that is all part of what he refers to as “the dance”.

“The dance is to set your scene in landscape or portrait mode.

“Decide on your aperture, focus your image, check that everything is zeroed in and then once everything is completed, and as near perfection as you can get it, then you would go ahead and release the shutter.

“This is a great experience.”

He says he loves “the anxiety and the drama” that come with large format photography.

“You still get it wrong, and every now and then you get it right.

“It’s a journey and that’s what you remember.”

Dominique says he is often left praying and hoping he has ticked all the boxes for a good shot because he won’t know until he has processed the film, and film is expensive at $20 per negative.

“Unlike digital photography where you walk along and shoot and delete the image if you don’t like it, shooting on a $20 piece of film means you don’t want to just trash it,” Dominique says.

And that’s where knowledge and artistic skills really come into play.

“With film photography you have to know your craft, and I like to think I know my craft, but having said that I am forever evolving,” Dominique says.

“For me, the skill I am pursuing is to get it right in camera, on film, from the word go.”

A photo of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is officially part of the the world’s largest portrait collection.

On Thursday, May 23, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s frequent photographer and close friend Misan Harriman posted a slew of celebratory pictures and video on his personal Instagram account, announcing that a photograph he took of the couple is being added to the famed National Portrait Gallery’s photograph collection.

“I am humbled and proud to announce that my portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is now part of the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery,” Harriman captured the post, which featured snapshots of the photographer with his now-famous photograph as well as the black-and-white photo itself.

In the portrait, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stand side-by-side, holding hands as they look forward and prepare to take the stage at the One Young World Summit in Manchester, England, on Sept. 5, 2022.

The photo was taken just three days before Prince Harry’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth, passed away.

At the time the photo was taken, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had already stepped away from their roles as senior royals and relocated from the U.K. to California in the wake of continued threats and security concerns.

The pair had returned to the U.K. to attend the One Young World Summit in Manchester. After Queen Elizabeth died, the royal couple remained in England to attend the late monarch and royal family matriarch’s funeral events.

According to a spokesperson for the National Portrait Gallery who spoke to People, there are no “immediate plans to display the image of Prince Harry and Meghan.” Instead, the spokesperson added, the photograph will go through the gallery’s cataloging process before it becomes available.

Harriman has captured many of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s most memorable milestones, including in 2021 when the pair announced they were expecting their second child, Princess Lilibet, as well as their daughter’s very first birthday.

In February, the photographer told People that Markle “is really as a sister to me.”

“I’ve been very lucky to photograph many special moments with her and her husband and her family,” he added.

Recently, Harriman accompanied the royal couple on their three-day trip to Nigeria. The photographer shared a series of photos of their trip on his Instagram page, including their visit to the Nigerian Armed Forces’ Defence Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria and a portrait of Markle posing alongside Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-general of the World Trade Organization.

“It was such a pleasure to observe and capture the amazing bond and friendship that they have with each other,” Harriman captioned the post.

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In my years as a photographer I’ve bought my way through a few systems worth of cameras and lenses. Be it a medium format film system right through to my current Fujifilm setup as a former ambassador (the program ended, not my love of the system). My current lens setup runs from a 7.5mm fisheye up to 600mm (using a 300mm with a 2x teleconverter). Despite this, I still firmly believe that anyone could be happy with two lenses and shoot the most common subjects with them with ease.

I bet you think I’m going to say the 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8. Sure it’s the classic professional set, but they’re big and bulky and not at all an agile set for the average photographer. The two biggest genres of photography are scenics and portraits. Both of these can be covered with the lenses I’m suggesting. Wide lenses suit landscapes, cityscapes and broad nature, while medium telephotos suit portraits.

In full-frame terms, the lenses I’m suggesting are the 16-35mm and the 85mm. On my Fujifilm X system, it’s the Fujinon XF 10-24mm f/4 and the XF 56mm f/1.2. Now, I’d prefer if there were an f/2.8 version of the 10-24mm for astrophotography, but f/4 is still fine for scenics, where you’d normally be shooting at f/11. The zoom gives you room to change your view and enhance the foreground. 

85mm (56mm on an APS-C crop-sensor camera) is a very flattering lens focal length for portraits. The compression allows the nose to balance well with the face and helps the ears look proportional. Wider lenses make the nose look larger and bloat the face.  I’ve even shot ¾ portraits using this by zooming with my feet. 

Being a prime, you also get beautiful bokeh with the shallow depth of field. While most are f/1.2, Canon’s RF 85mm f/2 is a gorgeous lens for the money and a worthy investment, especially as it also does macro. I love the new 56mm for Fuji, especially the weather sealing.

Best of all, the combined weight and size makes this set easy to bring everywhere. They’re well suited to a smaller messenger bag, or a day bag with your lunch and laptop. You no longer need to worry if you can bring a camera with you for light travel because you know these lenses will cover most of your needs. 

Checkout our complete guide to the best Fujifilm XF lenses