CLIMATE CHANGE
Friday 20 November 2020
Talk 19.00
Join us for London Independent Photography’s third online talk; an evening with Chris King. Chris will be discussing how we can better engage people on seemingly nebulous, systemic issues through the stories we explore and the way we tell them. He will share the work he produced on the issue of food waste, and the thinking behind the approach he took. This approach is now informing all his subsequent work, and motivated him to launch a new initiative called Documenting Climate Change, which aims to promote more effective communication on the issue of climate change.
The presentation will be followed by Q&A from the viewing audience.
Register for free via Eventbrite
Chris King is a documentary and portrait photographer and video producer. He works on commissioned work, personal projects, and collaborations within the UK and internationally.
Chris graduated from Glasgow University with an Honours Degree in Aeronautical Engineering (BEng Hons), specialising in spaceflight. He received a Masters in Engineering for Development (MSc) at Southampton University. Following his undergraduate degree he worked for 2 years with grassroots environmental and social justice organisations across Europe. After graduating with his Masters, he went on to live and work in France, Cambodia, Australia, Egypt and Morocco. During this time he was involved in a range of activities – from impact assessments of disaster relief projects, to learning about Permaculture.
Chris has sought to raise awareness and engage people on issues such as the impacts of the industrial food system and climate change, where the magnitude of the issue, and the urgency with which it must be addressed is not reflected in public or political engagement. Chris uses photography, video production, the written word and the production of podcasts and multimedia pieces with this intention.
One of Chris’s long-term projects focuses on the issue of food waste, for which he created a dedicated site – foodiswasted.com – sharing his exploration of the subject, creating an accessible platform to engage and informing people of the causes and consequences of avoidable food waste, and the work being done to reduce it.
From the outset he decided to take a human-centric approach – sharing the voices and activities of people, to make it more relatable and easier for the audience to engage. By focusing on those who were proactively working to reduce the amount of edible food going to waste, his work also has a solutions-focus, inspiring action and nurturing hope, informing the viewers that we can all play a role in helping create the cultural shift necessary to address avoidable food waste.
The approach he took with this project now informs all his other work and initiatives.
Through his studies, travels and research Chris has gained a deep understanding of the importance of representation, and the need and means to share the voices of those who often go unheard.
Chris created an online platform, Documentary Storytellers, with the aim of providing a place for documentary photographers and filmmakers of all levels the means to showcase their work – sharing unreported and under-reported stories from across the globe, overlooked and often considered not to be ‘newsworthy’ by mainstream publications.
Chris’s latest initiative – Documenting Climate Change – was born out of a desire to carry out participatory photographic projects with people at the frontline of climate change. His aim is to create and promote a greater diversity of stories on the issue of climate change with a focus on human-centric stories as well as stories that have a solutions focus.
www.chriskingphotography.com