Crispin Hughes
Photographer
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Leap of Faith
Thirty-five years ago, Chris Boot and I were commissioned by The Photographers’ Gallery to contribute a piece for their group show ‘The Invisible City’. With our model, Mark Linnington, we created a narrative tableaux of nine images. The leap of faith of one imaginary character, photographed in the remains of derelict London churches. Shot on…
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Insure Our Survival
In February 2024 Extinction Rebellion spent three days targeting fossil fuel insurers in the City of London. Shortly after this, major insurers Zurich pulled out of insuring new oil and gas. In late October 2024 XR returned to the City of London for another three themed days. Insurance is the Achilles heel of the global…
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Opportunity Area
I’ve recently bought two second-hand tilt-shift lenses, designed for architectural photography. Mechanically shifting the lens’s optics upwards allows me to photograph tall buildings without distortion. The technique dates back to the nineteenth century, but the current frenzy of high rise building in my local area makes it increasingly useful; allowing me to contrast the human…
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Insure Our Future
Why are these people standing in the window of Talbot AIG insurance in the City of London? New fossil fuel projects need three things: permits, money and insurance. Without insurance, most new fossil fuel projects cannot go ahead, and existing ones must close. This makes insurance the Achilles heel of the fossil fuel industry. Fossil…
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Quarter-plate
In 1969 my wife Susi’s family moved into a big, dilapidated 17th Century house in Wendover. Stacked loose in the attic were 64 quarter-plate glass negatives. The family moved out in 1989 and my brother-in-law Steve looked after these plates over subsequent decades. Last autumn (2023) he asked me to look at them. I scanned…
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Bonnington Square
Exhibition 1986 Bonnington Square in Vauxhall, south London, was part of an estate of houses built in the 1870s to house railway workers. It became famous in the 1980s when all the houses in it, vacant and awaiting demolition, were squatted. In the late 1970s, the Square was compulsorily purchased by the Greater London Council…
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Onlookers
At the heart of most environmental protests are committed activists, full of purpose and solidarity. Around the periphery, where disruption meets daily life, a kind of crust or scab forms. Spectators, police and security people, aggressive drivers, curious children with parents, and those who resolutely ignore the activists, all swirl around the edge. If they…
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AI & The Gypsy Traveller League
My first foray into AI 1. The idea was to try and re-create the above photo using Open AI’s Dalle-e image generator. The caption for the photo runs: ’27th May 2023. Westminster, London, UK. Gypsy Traveller League protestors. A group from the Gypsy Traveller League carried a coffin bearing the words ‘BURY DISCRIMINATION TODAY!’ to…
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‘The Right of Juries’
15th May 2023. Outside Inner London Crown Court. This doesn’t look dramatic, but Dr Juliette Brown, a 52-year-old consultant Psychiatrist, seen here, is risking arrest and imprisonment for contempt of court. Before sitting silently on the side of the pavement for an hour she said: “We’re ordinary people, worried about our safety, security, health, the…
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Ocean Rebellion 2022
Ocean Rebellion is an international art collective who tackle Ocean degradation and biodiversity loss by conceiving playful, emotive and spectacular art interventions.The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is a UN body, with headquarters on the Albert Embankment in central London. Early on the freezing cold morning of 12th Dec. 2022, delegates to their first physical conference…
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No Step
I last flew in 2019, a night flight from LA to London. While the passengers slept or dozed in front of in-flight movies, I slid a window blind up and peered out. A few metres from my face, two huge jet engines were hammering out burning hot CO2, Nitrous Oxide and a cocktail of other…
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Extinction Rebellion April 2022
“Climate activists are sometimes portrayed as dangerous radicals. The truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing production of fossil fuels. Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure is moral and economic madness.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, April 4, 2022
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