Josephine Espinosa

As a photographer I use the analogue medium of shooting, developing and printing from film, investigating human’s relationships with nature through images. Capturing figures rambling across landscapes throughout the English countryside, ranging from woodlands, moors, following rivers through fields and to the coast, I explore feelings of connectivity present between the human body and natural world. Focusing on how nature is a comfort zone for people to not just escape to, but become a part of, is an element I wanted to express within my photo book. Both filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky and photographer Bill Brandt have been key influences for my work, using the symbolism of natural forms to create a narrative of tranquillity. Here the human figure becomes one with the landscape, the movement of water, trees, and sky mirroring the rhythms of the human body.

Drawing on notions of the indexical, I use photography to capture traces of these journeys the human body makes within nature. The lens allows me to sculpt time in a way that can be experienced visually. ‘Indexicality’ refers to the physical relationship between the object photographed and the resulting image, capturing the energy of the real world in reality. Creating silver gelatin prints from my black-and-white film, the figure becomes part of the landscape, sharing tones and contrasts to work harmoniously rather than becoming the imposing ‘other’ figure. The process of creating in the darkroom shows through in my prints- they are not perfect impressions of the negative; the presence of water stains, dust marks and borders that usually mark a “bad” print, show my method and its feeling of tactility. This exploration of the tactile and the haptic, understanding through texture and touch, brings the sensations of the outdoors into the visual photograph.

Alongside my final prints, I created a photo book from my film photographs, printing this in collaboration with Ex Why Zed. A4 in size, with gloss laminated cover and silk inside pages, the book consists of 44 pages showcasing the visual narrative of my photographic walks. All the images inside have been shot on 35mm film, developed from their negatives, and printed in the darkroom by myself. The French term ‘Plein Air’ is associated with the act of painting outdoors, and with this publication, I wanted to illustrate how I use the visual art of photography to paint my own perspective of how those around me interact with nature.