Staff Profile
Mark Adams
Photography Course Lead and Senior Lecturer
I am a Senior Lecturer in Photography at York St John University. My photographic practice and research is situated within the broad context of landscape representation and involves an ongoing preoccupation with the meta-language of film and its distancing affect from observed reality. Over the past 20 years I have explored themes such as psychogeography, urban regeneration and Jean Baudrillard's concept of the simulacrum while photographing sites of architectural development and neglected urban or suburban environments. Much of this practice involves a process of walking as a significant factor in the creation of narrative.
I received an MA from the Royal College of Art in 2001 where I received the Chris Garnham Memorial Prize for photography. I am a member of Millennium Photographers Agency and am also represented by IRIS Artistic Platform, Arcangel Images and Art Photo Index.
- School – School of the Arts
- Email – m.adams@yorksj.ac.uk
- Phone – 01904 876 682
Teaching
I have 15 years of teaching experience in Higher Education and have taught photography at both undergraduate and graduate levels in England and the United States.
Research
Between 2007 and 2016 I developed a series of projects that explored extended walks, following paths of historical and cultural significance. These projects provided the foundation for a practice-led PhD that investigates the cognitive and intuitive activity of walking as a primary motivation for photographing landscapes. My thesis provides an on-going enquiry into the relationship between the walking, photography and the use of technological navigation tools and maps. This creates a hybrid experience that leads to an embodied experience of place within my practice.
Publications and Conferences
Selected exhibitions
- 2017: GM Art Prize Exhibition, Chamber of Commerce, Manchester.
- 2016: Waterways (Solo), Bradford Industrial Museum, Bradford, West Yorkshire.
- 2016 Northern Light Conference, Landscape & the North, Sheffield Hallam University, Yorkshire.
- 2015: 23:57 COP21: A response to UN Climate Change Conference. Fuse Art Space. Bradford.
- 2015: Third Space: Landscapes & Windows (Solo), PS Mirabel Gallery, Manchester.
- 2014: Art in the Eastside, Billboard Installation, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- 2014: Seeing Beckett, Liverpool Irish Festival, John Moores University, Liverpool.
- 2013: Royal Photographic Society, International Print Exhibition, Shire Hall, Stafford.
- 2012: Renaissance Photography Prize Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London.
- 2011: Art Moves Festival, Torun, Poland.
- 2011: Kodachrome, Association of Photographers Gallery, London.
- 2006: Artists Responding to Violence Against the Earth, Houston Foto festival : Museum of Cultural Arts, Houston, Texas, USA.
- 2004: Annual Juried Show. Contemporary Artists Center, North Adams, Massachusetts, USA.
Selected publications
- 2017 Northern Light Landscape & the North (Conference Publication), Sheffield Hallam University, Yorkshire.
- 2015: Der Greif, Arts Magazine. Issue 8. Germany.
- 2015: Art Monthly (Exhibition Review): April Issue.
- 2014: Paris Lit Up Magazine: Autumn Issue.
- 2014: Index: Cafe Royal Books.
- 2014: London Independent Photography Magazine: Spring Issue.
- 2008: Postcard, Laurence King Publishing.
- 2002: Next Level Photography Magazine: Edition 2 Volume 1.
Curatorial
- 2016: Transition: Prints and Postcards, PS Mirabel Gallery, Manchester.
Awards
- 2017: Greater Manchester Art Prize, Finalist.
- 2014: PS Mirabel Open: PS Mirabel, Manchester, Winner.
- 2005: International Photography Awards: Fine Art Category.
- 2001: Chris Garnham Memorial Prize: Royal College of Art, London.
- 2000: Folio Society Illustration Awards: Royal College of Art, London.
