Lauren Butcher, 22, is an artist based in London. She began expressing an interest in the art world during college, where she studied digital photography. At this time, she found inspiration from the various shapes and patterns present within nature.
In 2018, she moved to Cornwall to further her photographic studies at Falmouth University, on the Marine and Natural History Photography course. Through her time in Cornwall, Lauren’s interest in the natural world deepened. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic, meant Lauren lost access to the digital equipment, she needed for her degree. After talking to lecturers, she pursued camera-less photography and explored the meaning of what defined a photograph. Her research began by looking into the earliest form of photography – cyanotypes, it provided much inspiration to create camera-less images and eventually experimental work of her own.
As she explored more experimental techniques, she discovered that physically creating images connected Lauren to her work even more. She was no longer appreciating nature from behind a lens but was involved in every step of bringing camera-less work about nature to life.
Before using experimental techniques, she was often driven to make or capture art that on a technical basis, was perfect. For her it began to ruin the very essence of what art and the natural world was about, freedom. By using techniques that remove control over the outcome, her artistic practice has been elevated from seeking technical perfectionism to creating meaningful art directly influenced by the natural world around her.