Fergus Heron

Fergus Heron's research as photography practice explores ideas of place through picturing land, architecture and interiors.

His overall work forms an extended inquiry through ongoing projects comprising pictures of natural and humanly constructed environments, often with art historical, literary and photographic references.

Within and across projects, questions of place are posed in which the urban, rural, modern and traditional are considered as complex interrelated ideas rather than binary opposites.

The working process combines encounter and observation, technical realisation, critical reflection and theoretical formulation. Realised as detailed prints for exhibition spectatorship, his work emphasises how the photograph as a picture concentrates our seeing.

He also writes about photography practice and theory, organises exhibitions and presents his practice based research publicly in artist talks, symposia and university conferences.

Fergus Heron is a research student supervisor with subject expertise in photography as visual art practice; landscape, documentary and associated histories and theories.

Exhibitions featuring his work include the first major survey of Photography at Tate Britain, How We Are: Photographing Britain and shows at the Museum for Contemporary Art, Roskilde, Denmark; K3 Project Space, Zurich, Switzerland; Pitzhanger Manor Gallery, London; Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World, Exeter; Royal West of England Academy, Bristol; Worcester Museum and Art Gallery; Bonington Gallery, Nottingham; Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne and Phoenix Art Space, Brighton.

His photographs and writing are included in the anthology Emerging Landscapes (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014). He selected The Photographers’ Gallery Viewpoint: Photography and Landscape (London: TPG, 2018), edited Visible Economies (Brighton: Photoworks, 2012) and is a contributor to A Companion to Photography (Oxford: Blackwell, 2020).

He has presented his work at numerous international university research conferences on art, photography, architecture and landscape.

Selected Exhibitions and Displays

2020

Selected Photographs 2010-2018, University of Brighton Gallery

2019

9 Waterloo Place: Space in Transition, Phoenix Brighton

Show and Tell: The Image in Research, University of Brighton Gallery

2018

Northern Light, Yorkshire Art Space, Sheffield

2017

Present Tense, Phoenix Gallery, Brighton

2015

In Place of Architecture, Bonington Gallery, Nottingham

2014

Inhabit, Brighton Photo Fringe, Brighton

Scene, The Studio, Pitzhanger Manor Gallery and House, London

Views on SE1, Anise Gallery, London 

2013

Contemporary Landscape Photography, Worcester Museum and Art Gallery

Land, Travel and Environment, University of Brighton Gallery

2012

Capital, George and Jorgen Gallery, London

2011

Elusive, Camberwell Space, University of the Arts, London 

2008

Night: A Time Between, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

2007 

How We Are: Photographing Britain, Tate Britain, London

Publications

2020

Practicing Desires: Authorship in Contemporary Photographic Art in A Companion to Photography by Bull, S. (ed.) Wiley Blackwell ISBN 9781405195843

2018

Built Worlds: Photography, landscape and different natures, essay for The Photographers’ Gallery Viewpoints; https://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/content/built-worlds-photography-landscape-and-different-natures

2016

Photoworks Ideas Series Interview; https://photoworks.org.uk/ideas-series-interview-fergus-heron/  

2014

Desires Grown Solid: Shopping Centre Interiors in Emerging Landscapes by Deriu, Kamvasinou, Shinkle (eds.) Ashgate ISBN 978-1-4094-6705-2

2012

Visible Economies, edited book with essays by Eugenie Shinkle and Martin Newth, works by Sutapa Biswas, Emma Charles, Anna Fox, Immo Klink, Corinne Silva. Photoworks, ISBN 978-1-903796-48-1

2011

Elusive exhibition catalogue, with essay by Martin Newth, Camberwell Press, ISBN 978-0-9536395-6-4

2008

Night: A Time Between exhibition catalogue with essays by Dr Janette Kerr, Dr Steve Poole and Lily Markiewicz, Royal West of England Academy, ISBN 978-1-899525-03-4 2007

2007

How We Are: Photographing Britain exhibition catalogue with essays by Val Williams, Susan Bright, Kevin Jackson and Martin Parr, Tate Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85437-7142

2006

Unravelling Photography exhibition catalogue with essays by Nancy Roth and Liz Wells, Quay Arts, ISBN 100-9552787-2-4

2000

Still/Remains, photographs and essay in Eventful, Photographic Time edited by Yve Lomax and Olivier Richon, Royal College of Art, London. ISBN 1-874175-52-7

Conference presentations and talks

2019

A Sense of Practice, Association for Photography in Higher Education Interim Event, Arts University Bournemouth, 27 November

Pictures with words, words within pictures, Shaping Knowledge MeCCSA and MPE Practice Network Annual Symposium, University of Kent, 14 June

2018

Northern Light: Proximity and Distance in Northern Landscape Photography, Sheffield Hallam University, 2 July

2017

Visualising the Home, Cumbria Institute of Arts, Carlisle, 13-14 July

2016

Address to the Annual General Meeting of the Royal Photographic Society, 9 July 

On Printing Photography, Panel Discussion Chair, Brighton Photo Fringe, Phoenix Brighton, 21 October

2015

Richard Billingham Artist Talk (Chair) Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne

In Place of Architecture, Nottingham Trent University, 6 November

Landscape, Wilderness and the Wild, Newcastle University, 26th - 28th March

2014

Of the Earth, Plymouth University, 24th - 25th October

Beyond the View, Canterbury Christ Church University, Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury and Turner Contemporary, Margate, 10th - 11th July

Nocturnal, Land/Water and the Visual Arts, Plymouth University, 26th - 27th June

2013

Lessons in Geography (with Martin Newth) MAC Birmingham, 8th - 9th November

Landscape Photography, Panel Discussion organised by Miniclick at Anise Gallery, London, 17th October

Disobedient Objects at Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Organised by Centre for Research on Socio - Cultural Change and V&A, 3rd September

In/Vulnerabilities and Social Change: Precarious Lives and Experimental Knowledge (with Martin Newth), Organised by Centre for Research on Socio - Cultural Change, University of London, 5th September 

Photology, Hastings, East Sussex, 5th August

Visualising the Rural, University of Cumbria, Carlisle, 4th - 5th July

2012

Folio Forum Panle Discussion Chair at The Photographers' Gallery, London, November 22nd

Visible Economies, organised by University of Brighton and Photoworks as part of Brighton Photo Biennial 2012, 29th October

Water:Image, organised by the Land/Water and the Visual Arts Research Group, Plymouth University, 4th-6th July

2011

Ultima Thule, in conversation with Stephen Vaughan, Photofusion, London, 25th May

2010

Documentary Aesthetics organised by University of Brighton and BPB as part of Brighton Photo Biennial 2010, 5th November

Emerging Landscapes a joint venture between the School of Architecture and the Built Environment and the School of Media, Arts and Design, University of Westminster, Marylebone Campus, 25th – 27th June