Primary Succession
Zoe Hamill is fascinated by the connection between humans and their environment, as well as the systems of classification we rely on to understand the world. She focuses on long-term photographic projects, blending scientific and historical research with personal experience to narrate stories about specific places and subjects. Looking at Hamill's landscapes, her photographs of plants and rocks, and other images that are poetically composed alongside each other according to “the principle of good neighborliness”, a strangely pleasant feeling overcomes us: the calming effect of the familiar panorama, the anachronistic sight reminiscent of Technicolor and black-and-white of old Hollywood films, shaped by early photographic or film cameras immediately puts us in a peculiar nostalgic state. However, this is only an illusion, a kind of sedative strategy aimed at examining photography’s history as a medium that was used as a tool of imperialism, with Hamill critically analysing its role in shaping power dynamics, representations, and colonial narratives. The legacy of these narratives lurks just beneath the surface, waiting to be reanimated, as it does in her homeland of Northern Ireland.....Read the full article in the printed issue. Get OVER Journal 5
