Clarissa Gurd

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike, and consequently the end of the coal industry in the United Kingdom. Water, once pumped from collieries to prevent flooding, has slowly been rising in abandoned tunnels, absorbing minerals from exposed seams.

Locally, 10mg of iron and 4mg of manganese per litre is leaching into the South Esk River near Dalkeith Country Park, coating the riverbed in iron oxide deposits, and inexorably altering the river ecology.

Evoking thoughts about the intricate relationship between nature and human activities, the provided images serve as a poignant reminder of the environmental challenges we face in the Anthropocene epoch.

West Cork Wind Farms

West Cork in Southern Ireland has been designated Wind Farm Alley by TDs in Dublin. In their haste to meet the EU renewable energy quotas and avoid fines they are not considering the long term implications of destroying the untouched countryside. Wind farm proposals show little concern for the impact on the surrounding landscape or communities and are frequently met with fierce local opposition as once a wind farm becomes established it soon expands, dominating the skyline. As Ireland is rapidly becoming Europe’s data centre hub the growing need for more renewable energy will continue, but should virgin land be destroyed for data?

‘Blow-in’ is a slightly derogatory term in rural Ireland that refers to anyone who is not a local. In West Cork there is a substantial population of settled English and European blow-ins. We are an eclectic bunch, from many different walks of life and persuasions. Most were drawn to West Cork in the 1980-90’s by the slower pace of life and the ability to live closer to nature, others were born here. The following portraits were taken in 2021 after Ireland emerged from one of longest lockdowns in Europe. They are an anthropological study of the colourful bunch of people I call my kin; captured in their natural habitat.