‘Photographic Phytography: Towards a Photographic Re-centring of the Plant within Theory, Material and Practice’
2025
This paper explores my practice-based research project Arboreal Encounters—a collection of tannin-toned cyanotypes made in collaboration with six heritage oak trees across England, looking at how alternative photographic methodologies can actively interact with and integrate contemporary theories of vegetal intelligence. By treating the photographic process as an explicit invitation to the trees to become part of their own representation, I consider how these interactions act as literal human-plant collaborations, offering a way to resist viewing the natural world merely as a commodity.
Citation: Roe, E. J. (2024) ‘Photographic Phytography: Towards a Photographic Re-Centring of the Oak Tree within Theory, Material and Practice’, Plant Perspectives: Journal of Historical & Contemporary Ecology, 1(1), pp. 55–72. doi:10.3197/whppp.63845494909727.
‘Qu(e)ercus robur: Orlando and the Oak Tree’
2024
Written for Antennae's special "Queering Nature" issue, this essay examines the presence of an ancient oak tree in Virginia Woolf’s landmark 1928 novel Orlando: A Biography through a queer ecology lens, exploring the use of the natural world as a literary device and interconnected narrative that forms Orlando’s world.
Citation: Roe, E. J. (2024) ‘Qu(e)ercus robur: Orlando and the Oak Tree’, Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture, (63: Queering Nature), pp. 84–92.
‘Queer Constellations: Reflections on Curatorial and Creative Practice at the Museum of English Rural Life’
2023
This paper was co-written with queer theorist Joe Jukes and published in Networking Knowledge: MeCCSA Journal for Postgraduate Research’s ‘Dreaming of Another Place’ issue. Drawing from our independent disciplines of queer theory and photographic practice, it examines the creative and curatorial practices, and the theoretical frameworks that structure them, in relation to Queer Constellations: Artistic Trespass and Rural Gay Histories, an art exhibition that took place at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) between July and September 2021.
Citation: Roe, E. J. and Jukes, J. (2023) ‘“Queer Constellations”: Reflections on Curatorial and Creative Practice at the Museum of English Rural Life’, Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network, 16(1), pp. 3–18. doi:10.31165/nk.2023.161.
Image taken from the on-going series ‘Queer in the Country’ by Felix Pilgrim.