Anthos
Scientific research shows that a third of bee and butterfly populations are in decline with one out of ten bee and butterfly species being threatened with extinction in Europe. Some of the causes for this are land-use changes for agriculture and urbanisation which result in the loss and degradation of natural habitats leading to the disappearance of diverse flora, reducing food and nesting resources. These pollinators are vital for maintaining the habitats and ecosystems that many animals rely on for food and shelter so we must do what we can to help them.
Anthos aims to highlight the importance of biodiversity through the creation of portraits of plants loved by pollinators that usually go unnoticed by humans.
This body of work was made using a photographic process called Anthotype invented by Mary Somerville and Sir John Herschel in the 1840’s where a plant-based emulsion is applied to a sheet of paper. Once dried, the coated paper is left to expose in direct sunlight to record an image through a sun-bleaching process for an indeterminate period of time. The image recorded is only temporary and will gradually fade away.
