DYADIC | MAPJD 2016/17 | Projects

Homo

'Homo' is a tour of the UK via it’s prehistoric archaeological record. Focusing on the ten waves of human occupation in Britain over a one million year period, the project begins with the site of the very first human settlers in Britain 900,000 years ago, and ends with the first appearance of us, Homo Sapiens, 40,000 years ago. The series is presented as the photographers journey through the UK, travelling (with an emphasis on walking) from site to site, where artefacts have been found that indicate past human presence.

Many of these sites are not marked, some are disused quarries, cliff faces, parks, one is even now a sparkling new garden city. It is obviously impossible to photograph these sites as they once were, when the environment would have been very different to today. The images therefore are a mixture of metaphorical representations, landscapes and portraits of the current colonisers of Britain: Homo Sapiens. There are elements of a traditional photo essay, but one that is infused with more abstract shots - shots that seem to suggest a prehistoric landscape but that hold elements of modern society: a scenic swamp with a supermarket trolley sticking out; a quarry mined by countless waves of humans, to be slowly reclaimed by nature; beautiful natural landscapes and details are juxtaposed with giant supermarkets and large scale infrastructure developments; images that allude to layers, life cycles, and the repetitions of time - time in its entirety rather than as we perceive it: in relation to our own life spans and cultural history.

www.georgeselley.com

george.selley93@gmail.com

@george_selley

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