Drawn to Fire

Drawn to Fire is an ongoing photography project that connects many of my passions. My love of nature, photography, bushcraft and camping out. Working to create a temporary sensory space where I can reconnect and feel at one with nature. I would directly experience and try to capture what I call an “ancient light”; starlight, moonlight, campfire light within my photography.

Each work is a unique record of a performance around a campfire in a remote location; exploring the mark-making potential of light in the darkness, the elements and the senses.

The work is intuitive, exploring the notion of an artistic and meditative focal point. The work is abstract-expressionistic performance, using fire as paint on a scale defined only by the location and the scope of the lens.

Within each location, fire – “the human signature” – was celebrated amongst a greater spectrum of available, often natural light.

My bushcraft skills would allow me the creative freedom to camp out on the land and immerse myself in the location, to become meshed with the space.

I would often stay awake all night when I made this work; waiting for the light to feel just right. Committed to spend the night come what may would often allow a letting go of time; just me and the campfire, dwelling in the woods with the wildlife listening deeply, senses alert. Once there was a lot of noise in the darkness of approaching creatures coming close. I had no idea what was coming along the ground amongst the leaf litter. I was terrified, my imagination running riot. I stood and backed up to the fire for protection, only to discover it was in fact two very large badgers storming my campsite coming to check me out! Experiences like that are priceless and I will forever be grateful to those two curious badgers who were drawn to fire.

Kenny Martin