Melanie King is a working class artist and curator, originally from Manchester, UK. Melanie is now based in Kent, UK. She is co-Director of super/collider, Lumen Studios and founder of the London Alternative Photography Collective. Melanie is Lecturer In Photography at Canterbury Christ Church University, and a practice-based PhD Candidate at the Royal College of Art. She is the Interim Chair of the Royal College of Art, Working Class Collective. She is represented by the Land Art Agency.
Melanie is interested in the relationship between the environment, photography and materiality. Melanie intends to highlight the intimate connection between photographic materials and the natural world. Melanie is currently researching a number of sustainable photographic processes, to minimise the environmental impact of her artistic practice.
The artist - Beneath The Surface is a body of work that was produced during residencies at The Lengths, Achaphubuil and Island Darkroom, Isle of Lewis, Scotland.
This project furthers my practice-based research, testing out new sustainable photographic processes using foraged materials, that are intrinsically connected to the landscape. This project allows me to engage with both the landscape and photographic material, beyond the surface level.
This project was produced in collaboration with artist Jess Holdengarde, who also participated in residencies in the same locations, working with foraged materials to produce photographic print developers.