A dystopian vision of Dartmoor unfolds in Robert Darch’s haunting photographs
‘My first conscious memory was the sound of hunting dogs baying on the fringes of Dartmoor,’ says photographer Robert Darch, who recently launched his new book at the Martin Parr Foundation. ‘Although our 1960s semi backed onto fields, the rurality of Devon and the baying hounds must have appeared otherworldly to me as a three-year-old.’
That mystical feeling has stayed with Darch, and it permeates the pages of The Moor, a sci-fi visual narrative that shows the landscape as a dystopia in the near future. Dark, tense and perilous, Dartmoor is turned into a dramatic stage setting, primal and symbolic. As an adult, Darch found himself living in the area, moving closer and closer to the moor, drawn there as if by some uncanny force.
It’s the ambivalence of the bleak and barren landscape that Darch clearly finds so fascinating and that has continued to capture his imagination. ‘The moors can appear serene and beautiful on a summer’s day, but during the winter, covered in snow, fog, battered by high winds and stinging rain you can lose yourself in the landscape,’ he explains.
Darch continues: ‘Initially I was considering making a documentary project about the people that inhabit and work on the moor. However, I soon realised that I was far more interested in making a work about how Dartmoor makes me feel, lost, alone, isolated, excited and scared.’
The people who become the characters in Darch’s narrative all share a relationship with Dartmoor; although constructed. ‘On the days I was out with people I also allowed for situations to naturally present themselves,’ the photographer notes, including a series of images of a male figure falling asleep next to an uprooted tree. ‘My subject hadn’t slept the previous night, he was partying and during the whole shoot he was literally falling asleep standing up. This was a genuine response to a set of real world circumstances which helped formulate the idea of people surviving in a dystopian future.’
Darch is already working on his next project in connection Dartmoor, but this time it’s something more traditional: a documentary project on teens training for the Ten Tors, an annual event organised by the British Army.
The Moor, £16, published by Another Place Press
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Charlotte Jansen is a journalist and the author of two books on photography, Girl on Girl (2017) and Photography Now (2021). She is commissioning editor at Elephant magazine and has written on contemporary art and culture for The Guardian, the Financial Times, ELLE, the British Journal of Photography, Frieze and Artsy. Jansen is also presenter of Dior Talks podcast series, The Female Gaze.
-
The new Smart #5 takes the brand's essential character upmarket and offroad
Kai Sieber, head of design Smart at Mercedes-Benz Design, discusses the evolution and style of the new Smart #5
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Why the slipper is set to be this season’s definitive men’s shoe
Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss unpacks the rise of the men’s slipper, which looks set to become this season’s most ubiquitous shoe. Plus, five styles to channel the slipper’s louche elegance in your own wardrobe
By Jack Moss Published
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this week
Investing in quality knitwear, scouting a very special pair of earrings and dining with strangers are just some of the things keeping the Wallpaper* team occupied this week
By Bill Prince Published
-
10 books culture editor Hannah Silver recommends this winter
Lacking inspiration over what to read next? Wallpaper* culture editor, Hannah Silver, shares her favourite books
By Hannah Silver Published
-
The Turner Prize 2024 opens at Tate Britain
The Turner Prize 2024 shortlisted artists are Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur and Delaine Le Bas
By Hannah Silver Published
-
‘Gas Tank City’, a new monograph by Andrew Holmes, is a photorealist eye on the American West
‘Gas Tank City’ chronicles the artist’s journey across truck-stop America, creating meticulous drawings of fleeting moments
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
'I’m So Happy You Are Here': discover the work of Japanese women photographers
Subtitled ‘Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now’, this new monograph from Aperture is a fascinating insight into a critically overlooked body of work
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Peggy Guggenheim: ‘My motto was “Buy a picture a day” and I lived up to it’
Five years spent at her Sussex country retreat inspired Peggy Guggenheim to reframe her future, kickstarting one of the most thrilling modern-art collections in history
By Caragh McKay Published
-
Please do touch the art: enter R.I.P. Germain’s underground world in Liverpool
R.I.P. Germain’s ‘After GOD, Dudus Comes Next!’ is an immersive installation at FACT Liverpool
By Will Jennings Published
-
‘Regeneration and repair is a really important part of how I work’: Bharti Kher at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Bharti Kher unveils the largest UK museum exhibition of her career at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
By Will Jennings Published
-
‘Mental health, motherhood and class’: Hannah Perry’s dynamic installation at Baltic
Hannah Perry's exhibition ’Manual Labour’ is on show at Baltic in Gateshead, UK, a five-part installation drawing parallels between motherhood and factory work
By Emily Steer Published