Currently a PhD candidate at Royal Holloway, University of London, and the Science Museum, I am investigating the introduction of aerial photography into mapping in British colonial Africa. The project Losing Touch with the Ground describes the shift from the age of exploration with compass and sketchpad, to post-war industrial scale instruments, whether radar, plotters, or printers. It examines the ways in which changes in cartographic technology reconfigured relationships between local administrative officials, international mining conglomerates, forestry agencies, town planners, private air survey and the RAF; between colonisers and colonised.
My research is underpinned by an interest in the effect of technologies on our sense of self and our communities. This interest first took shape in the domain of Fine Art (BA Sculpture, Chelsea College of Art and Design, Villa Arson Nice, and the Higher Insititue of Fine Art, Belgium). It has since migrated into History of Science (MSc, Imperial College), and now found home in a Geography department. This interest has defined the subject matter of various research projects, but also fuels an excitement about the methodological, and poetic possibilities that lie in the confluence and divergence of testimonies offered by text, image, object and the spoken word.
I am the post-graduate representative on the British Society of History of Science Outreach and Education Committee, a co-curator at Passengerfilms http://www.passengerfilms.wordpress.com, and member of Salon Particulier http://www.salonparticulier.org.
100 Hours 