The Dover Prize will enable a significant development in my practice by embedding sustainable analogue photographic methods as a core principle, and expanding into sound recording to enhance recent explorations in my work.
While analogue photography is experiencing a revival, traditional development processes rely on toxic chemicals, generating hazardous waste that requires specialist disposal and environmental harm. These practices clash with the environmentally conscious values of many young analogue photographers. In contrast, plant-based developers—using materials such as mint, nettle, coffee, and seaweed—offer a low-impact alternative, harnessing naturally occurring phenolic compounds to develop images without toxic by-products.
The prize will support:
– In-depth practical research into plant-based print developers, expanding on my prior work with sustainable film – -development using seaweed developer;
– The integration of environmentally responsible techniques throughout my creative process;
– Development of darkroom printing skills;
– New training in sound engineering;
– Development of a new project—Rooted—based on the interconnectivity’s of forest ecologies.
This will:
– Enhance my technical knowledge;
– Increase my profile as a sustainable photographic artist;
– Support the continuation and expansion of new work building on previous explorations of land access and stewardship;
– Allow me to explore a more immersive, installation-based, multimedia approach.
I will:
– Establish a home darkroom by purchasing an enlarger conversion kit for my large format camera and related equipment;
– Fund materials including analogue film and photographic paper;
– Conduct hands-on research using plant-based developers across varied materials and papers;
– Complete a two-day one-to-one workshop with sound artist Cecilia Tyrell, covering advanced audio recording techniques, including inner tree sounds and underwater environments—building on my existing basic sound skills;
– Undertake overnight field trips to apply these new techniques in the field;
– Dedicate time to research and the creation of new work culminating in a finished installation project focused on human connection to land and forest ecologies.
As part of the final installation, I will deliver a hands-on workshop focused on camera-less and sustainable photography techniques, alongside a public talk exploring the themes and processes behind the body of work. These events will introduce Darlington audiences to environmentally conscious photographic approaches and highlight camera-less techniques as accessible, low-barrier entry points into the creative arts.
By removing the need for expensive equipment or formal training, these workshops will open up participation in sustainable photography to a broader cross-section of the community—including those who may not traditionally see themselves as ‘creative’. If the venue permits, I will also curate a companion exhibition featuring work produced by workshop participants, giving local voices a platform alongside my own.
By providing accessible entry points into the visual arts, it will help grow Darlington’s cultural engagement, encourage inclusive creative expression, foster pride in community-made work, and promote the mental health benefits of creative exploration.
The project will contribute to raising the profile of the creative arts in Darlington as a space where contemporary, socially relevant art practices are both made and shared—raising the town’s profile as a hub for innovative, accessible, and sustainable arts engagement.
I am a lens-based artist originally from Northumberland, now based in North Yorkshire. My practice explores how modern life has disconnected humans from the natural world’s rhythms and ecologies—an environment we once engaged with in a deeply symbiotic way. I examine how curated and limited access to landscapes influences our relationship with the land and entrenches our disconnection, thus impacting on our stewardship. My work is underpinned by notions of perception, memory, time, nostalgia, and the inner self. My multidisciplinary approach spans digital and analogue photography, experimental and alternative photographic techniques, moving image, sound, and performance. A key part of my methodology is to integrate elements of the landscape directly into the image-making process. I actively consider the environmental impact of my practice and prioritise sustainable methods where possible. For example, recent work has included negatives developed using seaweed-based developer; seawater used in the process to erode film surfaces; and lumen and anthotype methods to embed the subject matter as an integral player shaping the final image. At its core, much of my conceptual practice considers how we as humans relate to the natural world and our place in the landscape – in particular how we seek to transcend our internal monologues and busy modern-day lives to slow down, reconnect and seek solace in a natural world we have increasingly distanced ourselves from. Selected exhibitions include Dalby Forest collaborating with The River Rye Project (2025); Scarborough Film Festival (2025); Traces at Helmsley Arts Centre (2025); Shutterhub’s To The Sea in St Gilles Croix de Vie (2023-24); RPS Summer Show (2023); FORMAT23 (Performing the Photobook); The Handworkers at Ryedale Folk Museum (2023); Transmutation at Margate School (2023); Portrait of Britain national exhibition (2022); and Lies a Calm Along The Deep at Dalby Forest (2022). My work has been featured in Overlapse’s Stir the Pot (2024); Source magazine (2023); Portrait of Britain Vol3 (2020) and Rankin’s This is Britain (2017). I was a Portrait of Britain winner (2020), and my work has been shortlisted for the Belfast Photo Festival (2022) and Photo North’s Emerging Artist Award (2023).
I graduated with an MA in Photography from Falmouth University in 2023, having returned to study as a mature student. The experience marked a pivotal evolution in my practice—from a foundation in documentary photography to a more conceptual and experimental approach. This transition reshaped both my methodology and subject matter, allowing me to explore complex ideas through more abstract, layered forms of image-making.
During the MA, I started to develop a more multidisciplinary practice, integrating moving image, sound, and performance into my work. This deepened the conceptual dimensions of my work opening new pathways for audience engagement and storytelling.
Prior to this, I trained as a photojournalist through the National Council for the Training of Journalists, equipping me with a strong grounding in visual storytelling and ethical practice. I also hold a BA (Hons) in History and History of Art from the University of Hull (2:1), which continues to inform my research-led approach and contextual awareness.
Together, these experiences have shaped a practice that blends technical skill with conceptual inquiry, grounded in a deep interest in how we see, interpret, and emotionally connect with the world around us.
In 2022, I was awarded a Creative Economy Grant from Ryedale District Council to develop The Handworkers—a year-long project celebrating traditional handcrafts across the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire. With funding of £4,600, I researched and documented master artisans through photography and short films. The series explored various crafts including blacksmithing, thatching, weaving, pit-fired pottery, and botanical textile printing, capturing both the skill and cultural heritage embedded in these practices. The final images were exhibited at Ryedale Folk Museum Gallery and later in Scarborough, and each participant received professional images and a bespoke short film to support their own marketing and outreach—creating a meaningful, reciprocal exchange.
In 2023 and 2024 I was awarded two Small Arts Grants from North Yorkshire Council (each £1,000) to deliver a series of community-based camera-less photography workshops and a programme of mindful photography walks. Both initiatives were designed to engage local residents with accessible creative practices that foster wellbeing and support the council’s strategic priorities around mental health and cultural inclusion.
These grants have been instrumental in developing a socially engaged practice alongside my personal work.
I am currently developing the inaugural Malton Photo Festival, a project I initiated in collaboration with local Community Interest Company You Will Be and Visit Malton. We are awaiting funding decision through North Yorkshire Council’s Vibrant High Street Fund. The festival will partner with local businesses and celebrate photography as an accessible and democratic art form, showcasing emerging regional and national talent. Planned as a weekend event, it will feature exhibitions, artist talks, an open call competition, and a book/zine fair—inviting broad community engagement with contemporary lens-based practices.
In addition, I co-founded Limen, a fledgling creative partnership and independent publisher. Our first zine, Edgelands: The Edge of Elsewhere, debuted at the Bristol Books on Photography Festival and is now stocked at Impressions Gallery in Bradford and via our website. I have also self-published other works, including The Pink Line, a visual narrative of a surrogacy journey, and Fragments, a handmade sculptural photobook.
I regularly create my own exhibition opportunities, including Motherhood & Identity in collaboration with Sydenham Arts, Lies A Calm Along The Deep at Dalby Forest and Traces at Helmsley Arts Centre, and have participated in Ryedale Open Studios from my home studio.
The River Rye Project, a collaborative effort with botanical textiles artist Sue Walsh, sound artist/composer Celicia Tyrell and myself, was commissioned by North York Moors National Park and the Revitalise Landscape Partnership. This immersive project delved into the profound human connection to the River Rye in North Yorkshire, inviting local residents to engage more deeply with their natural surroundings.
Through a series of hands-on, experiential workshops, the project brought participants into the heart of the River Rye landscape, guiding them to explore remote sites along the river and fostering conversations with local landowners about sustainable, nature-friendly farming practices. The workshops were designed to nurture a holistic understanding of interconnectedness, focusing on themes of self-awareness, movement, sound exploration, cold-water experience, eco-printing, and creative writing alongside the development of soundscapes and visual imagery inspired by the river and its surrounding environment.
One of my seaweed-developed photographic works, Monolith #1, is held in collection at Impressions Gallery in Bradford. This was donated by me to their Sustainable Photography Collection, to contribute to the evolving dialogue around environmentally responsible photographic practices.
My book The Pink Line and the zine Edgelands: The Edge of Elsewhere, created in collaboration through my creative partnership and artist-led publishing house Limen are both held in the Women and the Photo Book Library. This touring collection celebrates and promotes the vital contributions of women to photography and photobook culture.
In addition, my work is held in a small number of private collections.
My series Lies A Calm Along The Deep was featured in Source magazine’s 2023 Graduate Review, which spotlighted the best of the MA graduates from that year. The series, along with its immersive installation at Dalby Forest, was also highlighted prominently in Ryedale Gazette and Herald.
Selections from my Ebb|Flow series appeared in ArtDoc magazine as part of a feature on emerging artists who are exploring alternative analogue photographic practices. Additionally, four of my works—The Storm, A Winter’s Tale, Sea Fret, and Learning to Fly—have been showcased by PhotoVogue.
In 2018, my work was published by The Guardian as a finalist in the Women Behind the Lens award, in partnership with Picfair. My work has also been published in FujiLove, a magazine dedicated to the FujiFilm community, and my series Motherhood & Identity (2019) was featured by the BBC World Service.
I have taken part in two artist residencies: The Common Good at North Yorkshire Rural Arts and a solo month-long residency at Art Happens Here in Malton, both in 2024.
The Common Good, led by artists Kate Genever and Soraya Smithson, brought together 10 rurally-based artists from diverse disciplines to explore and respond to the town of Thirsk—an unfamiliar setting for all participants. Over one intensive weekend, we researched the town’s history and folklore, exchanged ideas across practices, and worked beyond our usual mediums. The residency culminated in a month-long group exhibition at North Yorkshire Rural Arts’ The Courthouse.
At Art Happens Here, I was given dedicated studio space for a month—an invaluable opportunity to work beyond the limitations of my home studio. This enabled me to complete my project Terra Incognita, experimenting with projected imagery, testing out display ideas and developing a final installation plan. The residency gave me both the physical space and creative freedom to push the work into new territory. I am now collaborating with local Community Interest Company You Will Be to realise the installation in a public space, expanding access to the work and its themes.
Email: rachelmrimell@gmail.com
Address: 68 Middlecave Road, Malton, North Yorkshire, YO17 7NE, GB
Local Authority: North Yorkshire County Council
