Wildways Along the Ching – Exhibition

I’m one of 23 artists selected to be inspired by the River Ching to create artworks for a month long exhibition Artists Field Notes : Wildways along the Ching at Hale End Library, London E4 9QD opening 4th Sept 2026.

It began with an Artist Field Study Day back in early July, where we walked a stretch of the river and gained information about its ecology, water quality, importance in the urban landscape for flood mitigation, and habitat management. As a life long resident of Waltham Forest I was aware of the River Ching, but I’d never fully appreciated its ‘wildness’ as a real living and breathing flowing river. I’d only ever knew it as that drainage channel by the ‘big’ Sainsbury’s on the A406 – a place where shopping trolleys go to die, and oily street run off flows after heavy rains.

Getting involved in Wildways Along the Ching changed that perception and I got to discover its meandering path through Highams Park and parts of Epping Forest. That it is teeming with life – positive indicators of a river with healthy potential. That it not only flows next to victorian terraces and council estates, along railways and major ‘A’ roads, but also with ancient oak and beech trees. I knew instantly I wanted to experiment with double exposure film photography as there was something about trying to layer the waterway and its natural ecology with that of the urban environment that surrounds it.

Below is a selection of the images created so far. These were made in-camera using 35mm film, double exposed once at Aldriche Way Estate, then rewound and loaded a second time along the River Ching. Serendipity plays a part here, it’s hard to predict what will overlap, or whether the two images will register at all. What I love about these images is that the more you look, the more you see.

I was also keen to explore Cyanotype printing with this series and did experiment with printing foliage found alongside the river which felt like my form of visual sketching, an additional layer adding to my creative connection with the river and surrounds.

I even had the opportunity to try out some toning with ‘Iron water’ created from metal bits found in the river and kindly lent to me by fellow Wildways Artist Fatima Najm.

The exhibition opens tonight with a meet the artists event. I’m presenting 4 framed images for the exhibition but with the collection of various cyanotypes and double exposures I feel like this may well be the start of the next ‘Amble’ photo zine as it feels like there is a wider story to tell.

More Information:

Visit the Artillery Arts page below to see and hear more about the Wildways with Artists project and keep up to date with what’s going on. Thanks Artillery Arts for selecting me to be involved. And thanks to my fellow artists on the programme for being a huge source of inspiration. Artists from a wide range of practices – I’ve learnt so much and I can’t wait to see what you have all created.

https://www.artillery.org.uk/wildways

Wildways along the Ching is a project run by Waltham Forest Council with local partners​ and is funded by the Mayor of London Green Roots Fund.