FIELD NOTES 072
32 pp / 190 x 230mm
Staple Bound
Fedrigoni paper
First edition of 100
FN072
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Once completely submerged by water, the landscape of the Somerset Levels has been reclaimed over the centuries into a vibrant mosaic of agricultural land and internationally renowned wetland reserves.
I am drawn to these seemingly uneventful places: the fields, drainage ditches, rivers, pastures and marshes that go unnoticed.
The Levels are under threat from severe water pollution from agriculture and water company discharges. High levels of phosphates are causing biological harm to the waterways ecosystem. In May 2022, Natural England announced they were changing the status of all Somerset Levels Sites of Special Scientific Interest to ‘Unfavourable - Declining’, the worst status before ‘Destroyed’. All of Somerset’s main rivers are now polluted beyond legal limits and the Environment Agency plan to clean up our waterways has been moved back to 2063. I’ll be 96, which makes me anxious about the outcome for this beautiful landscape in my lifetime.
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FIELD NOTES is a series of affordable zines showcasing photography projects which explore our relationship with 'place'.