If awarded the Dover Prize, I will use the funding to significantly develop The Land of the Dead, a long-form photographic project exploring sibling grief, memory, and mythology. This funding will enable me to expand the project beyond traditional photographic presentation and into installation and sound-based work, the ambition is to create a site-specific piece, that uses soundscapes to further enhance the feeling of a journey through the land of the dead.
A large portion of the bursary will go toward time and materials—medium format film, chemicals, and large format printing, as well as enabling me to travel to coastal and symbolic landscapes in Dorset and beyond. These locations are vital to the work’s emotional and narrative meaning; I photograph at liminal times—dawn and dusk and would like to experiment recording with film.
The funding will allow me to collaborate with sound artists and installation practitioners to build immersive experiences. I plan to research and prototype multimedia formats that combine landscape photography, soundscapes, and text, with the goal of creating an installation that engages audiences both visually and emotionally. With the art works potentially being viewed by torch light.
In addition to production, I will seek mentorship from artists working with these fields, and attend workshops in night photography, sound recording, and creative writing. These professional development opportunities will support both the technical execution and the narrative depth of my project.
I also intend to explore partnerships with institutions such as Dorset Museum and Art Gallery to research local death rituals, folk mythologies, and their relevance to contemporary grief theory and experience. This will inform a series of community-facing events, such as artist talks and the development of creative resources addressing sibling loss, encouraging a wider dialogue around underrepresented experiences of the grief of adult siblings.
This bursary will help me transition from a primarily photographic approach into a multidisciplinary practice. It will allow me to expand my creative language, reach broader audiences, and establish the foundation for future exhibitions, publications, and collaborations—strengthening both the visibility and sustainability of my work as an early-career artist.
This award would allow me to travel and embed some of my practice in the Tees Valley region, expanding the scope of The Land of the Dead by engaging with its distinctive coastal and post-industrial landscapes as sites of myth, passage, and folklore.
I am very interested in researching the region’s mourning traditions, folklore, and storytelling practices, particularly in relation to the landscape surrounding Darlington and post-industrial coastal landscape. These new strands would move the work beyond my personal narrative to include my broader family heritage and its connections to the North East coastline. This would include site-specific photography, sound recording, and immersive installations that reflect the symbolic and emotional qualities of the land.
By embedding my project in the Tees Valley, I aim to produce new interdisciplinary work and in doing so also contribute to the visibility of the region’s creative life. The project would connect contemporary practice with regional heritage.
I am an emerging visual artist and photographer based in Berkshire, UK. My work explores themes of grief, memory, and absence through photography, folklore, and archival imagery. The sudden death of my brother in 1993 had a profound effect on me and my MA marked the beginning of my current inquiry into how we carry and express loss. Through my practice, I seek to visualise the invisible, using ancient landscapes, folklore, and myth to create spaces where personal and collective grief intersect.
Landscape plays a vital role in my work, especially the ancient sites of Dorset. These sites act as thresholds between worlds—real and imagined, where past and present often merge. I photograph during twilight and into the night, when light dissolves certainty and space takes on a new meaning. Mythologies and oral histories are woven throughout, as I use photography to trace how we remember, mourn, and make meaning of loss.
I completed my MA in Photography at Falmouth University with Distinction in 2022. Since then, my work has been widely exhibited, including but not limited to FORMAT Festival Overture Group Exhibition, Encontros da Imagem (Portugal), PhotoFrome, and the IPE165 international Photography Exhibition. My self-published photobook Sorrow was a 2024 Kickstarter success and featured in El País’s Best Photobooks of the Year 2024.
Public engagement is an important strand of my practice. I’ve given talks for organisations such as the Oxford Photographic Society, FORMAT Festival Women and the Photobook Armchair Conversations, as well as taking the podcasts Photo Fone Podcast discussing autobiographical approaches to photography alongside Haley Morris-Cafiero. I also took part in the “Broken Pack” interview series on adult sibling loss and have shared my experience of making Sorrow.
Alongside my own work, I am currently Head of Photography at Bradfield College and a founding member of the Limen Collective. I’m an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society and actively contribute to creative communities exploring photography, grief, and personal storytelling. My aim is always to create work that resonates emotionally, opens conversations, and honours the complexity and unique grief experience of every individual.
I have a BA hons in Art and Related Art, from Chichester University. 2:1. 1996
Master’s Degree Falmouth University, Distinction 2022
Since completing my MA, I have continued to develop my project Sorrow. Sorrow is the first
instalment of an on-going investigation into the complexity of grief, specifically, the loss of my
brother. The story is told through my family album, the documentation of his death that sits
alongside the ancient and mythical landscapes of Dorset. This is the landscape of our childhood
and forms a large part of my identity. I have envisaged the project to be in 3 instalments, that
address the differing aspects of loss, grief and absence.
No, I have successfully completed a successful kickstarter to be able to self publish my book Sorrow. I surpassed my funding target raising £3307. The edition almost sold out through the kickstarter and additional funds allow me to publish a larger edition. The project was named as one to watch by Kick Starter and was successfully published at launch in March 2024.
I am a founding member of Limin a small partnership that produces an annual zine based around a theme.
My Book Sorrow has been reviewed online for PH Museum by Colin Pantall, Il Pais, Best Books of 2024 with Colin Pantall and Gloria Crespo Maclennan. Le Monde October 27-28 web and print edition, inclusion of an archive image, to accompany an article on sibling grief. Disrupted Landscapes Exhibition, Web Feature, On Landscapes, Disrupted Landscapes Exhibition, Web Feature on Caught by the River and Night Moods Shutter Hub Publication, Featured an image from The Gloaming.
2024-25 was selected to be part of The East Meets West Master Class Programme through Grain Projects, which culminated in a group exhibition as part of Format Photography Festival in Derby.
Email: dawnsrodgersphotographer@gmail.com
Address: 19 Baily Avenue, Thatcham, Berkshire, RG18 3EG, GB
Local Authority: West Berkshire
