Emergence
The Process Of Being Visible
Common Gorse and her golden flamed constellations flowering the moors.
Gorse - A large, evergreen shrub, covered in needle-like leaves and distinctive, coconut-perfumed, yellow flowers. Flowering in all seasons.
These gorse flowers seduced me in the middle of winter - they seem to colour the landscape to some extent throughout the year. Whilst perhaps more prevalent at certain times, they inspire and delight in some form regularly - always showing up.
The same could be said of my intention with this newsletter and publication - always show up, once a month, and so it is with a day or two remaining, and the clocks having shifted an hour, offering us seemingly more daylight - that I sneak in before my self imposed deadline.
Enjoy the work and thanks for gifting me a little of your time.
The Awá
The Awá know their forests intimately. Every valley, stream and trail is inscribed on their mental map. They know where to find the best honey, which of the great trees of the forest are coming into fruit, and when the game is ready to be hunted. To them, the forest is perfection: they cannot dream of it being developed or improved upon.
The last month or so saw me busy creating and working on a collaboration with fellow photographer and friend Genilson Guajajara - an invite in 2025 to communicate a story of the Indigenous Awá, led us in 2026 to a small Amazon rainforest community in Maranhão state, Brazil.
Having only just returned from the trip. I currently need a little time to work and feel my way through the images, as well as digest the experience. So that in the coming months were able to share and communicate this story carefully through editorials and exhibitions, alongside the community.
We’ll be sharing more of this work imminently, initially at London Climate Week in late June alongside other collaborators, so keep your eyes peeled.
Lençóis Maranhenses
That white desert with a thousand lakes.
Where my dreams blurred and my reality began, I felt unsure.
Lençóis Maranhenses in Maranhão state was a landscape I felt compelled to visit when I knew I would be traveling to this region of Brazil.
I’ve always had a fascination with the desert as well as the ocean, huge expanses of space that feel impossible to grasp, though leave you feeling deeply moved, calmer - quieter than when you arrived.
To be present and quiet in these fragile spaces can feel enlightening.
I created images in this vast landscape for a number of days - sunrise to sunset. Work which I’m still digesting.
My next newsletter will dive deeper into this story and share further imagery, so stick around.
Thanks for being a part of my journey as I collaborate, create, and share stories. I’m very appreciative of the support I receive in and around my practice - through commissions, print sales, collaborations, and those that follow and encourage my practice. This support goes a long way in gifting me the time, energy, and opportunities to work and share stories.
Regularly sharing stories of land, people, and communities - those who resist and fight to protect our fragile planet.
Thank you for your support.
Take care, speak soon, Joel