Uncertain Silence

© Nicholas Hughes (June 2026)

In this series I am seeking to picture the glitching fault lines of uncertainty that hang in the air through metaphoric visualisations of a dysfunctional Nature increasingly out of sync spelling the urgent need for humans to repair their relationship with nature.

In the making of my work, I regularly crave isolation to reduce distraction and regain concentration levels, walking which plays a major role in my practice allows me the time to shed the everyday preoccupations that our increasingly frenetic world throws at us. The silence this can afford can be complimentary to Photography in many respects.

The majority of the work is made within a short distance distance of where I live a habit that I evolved in London and transposed to Cornwall in an effort to reduce my personal impact, in this series I have sought to broaden my reach via the use of public transport taking me into mainland Europe. Having access to an area of study on a daily basis can offer a greater degree of contemplation and this spread over a period of years opens up the potential for the observation of change - enabling a body of work which plays upon notions of memory attached to Nature and the land we inhabit, the unspoilt and  the reality - growth habits which are no longer normal nor the climate patterns that produce them.

In keeping with  my established film based practice I incorporate more than one exposure in the production of my images - in this instance -in effect I am hanging a veil  through which I see tears in the cosmic fabric via a process that combines analogue and digital capture into single print based outcomes.

The absorption of (quickening) change in our local environments could be likened to the process by which (having not seen someone for a period of time) we assimilate the ageing of a friend or family member whose appearance now differs but can soon be accepted as the new norm. This when transposed to younger generations acceptance of a reduced Nature is a hugely dangerous precedent.

Whilst spiralling extreme random hit weather events document the wrecking ball of the anthropocene - many remain in denial of their responsibility, although familiar with news headline disasters do we see them in our everyday lives? Is it only when the Climate Crisis calls in all its power - is it only then no longer something happening to someone somewhere else?

Having found visual inspiration in locating the rhythms and harmonies of the earth my contemplation of silent spaces has been disturbed/clouded by an existential veneer of  human impact.  I am looking at the proverbial calm before the storm, the previous sanctuary of Nature hooked to a foreboding sense of rising alarm - yet somehow holding still - there is a silence - however uncertain.