William Arnold (b.1983)
williamlawrencearnold@gmail.com
Living and working in west Cornwall, UK, William is interested in the layers of history, human and natural that comprise the making of the landscape and the role played by the photographic surface both literally and metaphorically in recording, interrogating and representing these histories.
"William Arnold is a photographer influenced by the first pioneers of the medium and perhaps of the theory that has pervaded photography since its birth. Sir William Newton, the academic painter, declared in 1853 that photography could never capture the ‘atmospheric veil’ which nature throws across the world, and yet Arnold seems to both refute and capture this aspect by exploiting light and shade to produce artistically driven portraits of the world around him. The work explores themes of temporality and attributes of photography as both art and source of documentation. Interested in the politics of representation, the works draw from the subjectivity and objectivity involved in the act of photography and in how photographs are perceived." - Sarah Ryan (2016)
Education:
MA Photography - Photography & The Land (University of Plymouth 2014)
BA (hons) History (University of Lancaster 2004)
Recent Exhibitions :
2019
Official Secrets | Cauliflower Fields at Backlane West with Robin Dowell and Mollie Goldstrom.
2018
Anima Mundi - Mixed Winter Exhibition
Suburban Herbarium - Kestle Barton (SOLO)
Muir Is Tir (Sea & Land) An Lanntair, Stornoway & Edinburgh College of Art
In Search of Darkness - Project Space, Grizedale Sculpture Park in association with Lumen Studios
2017
'O' - artdoteath - Dartington
Shadows II: Natural Transformations - London College of Communication
Photo Pioneer | Photo Primitive - St. John on Bethnal Green - in association with Photography and The Archive Research Centre, UAL, London
2016
Photo Pioneer | Photo Primitive - Penwith Society Gallery St. Ives (William Arnold, Melanie King, Oliver Raymond-Barker, Andy Hughes)
London Pinhole Festival '16 - curated group show - Doomed Gallery, Dalston
2015
Anima-Mundi, Mixed Winter Exhibition
ESPY Award Show, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
LAPC at Silverprint, London (Invited speaker)
London Pinhole Festival '15 - curated group show - Doomed Gallery, Dalston,
2014
MAKING TIME: New Photographic Constructions - Penwith Society Gallery, St. Ives - co-curator and exhibitor (Nick Hughes, Andy Hughes, Hannah Guy, William Arnold, Oliver Raymond-Barker)
PHOTOMASTERS - Old Truman Brewery, London
Beyond The Camera - Pingyao International Photography Festival, China
Nocturnal - University of Plymouth - Land Water & Visual Arts Symposium - invited film screening.
London Pinhole Festival - curated group show - Doomed Gallery, Dalston
'I' - (PASSING THROUGH THE VEIL OF SOLITUDE) Truro, curated by Anima Mundi. St. Ives
2013
Vignette Awards Show, Bristol
Peaches & Cream III, DreamSpace, London (October
Royal Photographic Society - 156th Annual International Print Exhibition
Photography & The Expedition - Invited Speaker (University of Plymouth)
2012
Cornwall Film Festival
Silverprint, London
Magnum Photos, London – IdeasTap Photographic Award
2011
Photomonth – Old Truman Brewery, London. (October 2011)
Accolades, awards etc.
Shortlisted for the Eden Project/FoAM Residency: Invisible
Worlds (2018).
ESPY Photo Award 2015 (shortlist)
Vignette Awards 2013 (shortlist)
Royal Photographic Society - 156th Annual International Print Exhibition (selected artist - 2 photographs)
Peaches & Cream III - selected by Milim and Crane Kalman Gallery 2013 (shortlist)
Magnum Photos - Ideas Tap Photographic Award - Finalist and Conceptual Category Winner (2011)
Selected recent press, online & print:
The Last Hundred (2018) Guillemot Press
March 2018 - CURCURBITA MAXIMUS on Antler Press
September 2017 - Photo Primitive, Manor Magazine, Issue 21
August 2017 - Financial Times Weekend 'Possessed: The Dangers of The Digital Home' (Paywall) Photographs from Living Spaces for an article by Edwin Heathcote
October 2016 - Oh Comely (Issue 31) 'To The Edgelands' feature on Suburban Herbarium by Frances Ambler
June 2016 - Interview with Diva Harris at Caught By The River
April 2016 - Review of Sacred & Absurd book by Ian Humberstone
February 2016 - Sacred & Absurd: Votive Offerings At The West Penwith Holy Wells (Antler Press)
Writing on Photography
Review of Botanical by Samuel Zeller (Hoxton Mini Press) for Caught by The River (2018)
Field Trips
Alluvial Strands for Groundwork Art (2018)
Teaching
Public workshops, lectures etc. for clients including: Bath Spa University, CAST, Tate St. Ives, Newlyn & Exchange, Groundwork Art
William regularly teaches photography at Truro & Penwith College, Cornwall
Visiting lecturer at Bath Spa University
Residencies
Shortlisted for the Eden Project/FoAM Residency: Invisible
Worlds (2018).
In Search of Darkness, Lumen Studios/ Grizedale Forestry Commission (2018)
Muir Is Tir (Land & Sea) An Lanntair, Stornoway (2017)
Dartmoor Arts Project (2014)