Statement

I use photography to explore the beauty found within the cycles of growth, decay, and renewal. Influenced by the Buddhist concept of anicca — the understanding that all things are impermanent — my work embraces change not as loss, but as a generative force — a source of possibilities, meaning, awareness, and connection. I’m drawn to places shaped by time — where human presence is fading, structures weather, boundaries blur, and nature reclaims what was once built. These environments reflect the inevitable transformation of the world around us and the quiet renewal that emerges in its wake.
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My black and white photographs — typically captured in a fraction of a second — depict abandoned structures, cultural landmarks in decline, overgrown ruins, and other liminal spaces shaped by time — where human history and the natural world intersect, or natural processes quietly unfold. They are formally composed, quiet images that reveal presence through stillness, sculptural light, and visual clarity — not defined by spectacle. In contrast, my colourful solargraphy is created with homemade pinhole cameras and months-long exposures that stretch across seasons to transform the sun’s movement into abstract visual records — vivid, gestural photographs shaped by light itself. In both, light is not just a subject but a collaborator, linking the work through a shared reverence for impermanence, transformation, and the passage of time.
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By visualising what is otherwise unseen — the slow drift of the sun, the gradual erosion of built environments, the return of silence — my work facilitates contemplation of the layered relationship between impermanence, memory, and place. A universal meditation on time and transformation.

— Bret Culp