The award-winning Scottish photographer Peter Iain Campbell will be taking up the position of Artist-in-Residence at the Centre for Energy Ethics. This 24-month post will begin in September 2024.
Iain, who has been an affiliate of the CEE since February 2023, has been documenting the changing nature of the oil and gas industry across the Scottish sector of the North Sea since 2014. Having spent several years working on North Sea installations, he has established strong relationships with workers across the industry, both offshore and on. This has afforded him unique access and insight into the living and working conditions of these key energy workers.
Over the two years of his CEE residency, Iain will continue his engagement with the North Sea, documenting oil and gas workers and installations, the decommissioning of rigs, and the fast-growing development of offshore wind projects. During his residency, Iain plans to organise exhibitions, host workshops, and produce publications. His specialisation in offshore energy also opens up more opportunities to deepen collaborations between the CEE and marine scientists working in the same fields at the Scottish Oceans Institute.
“I am delighted to have been awarded the position of Artist-in-Residence at the CEE over the next two years.” Said Iain on his appointment, “I have been on this photographic journey documenting the North Sea energy industry for 10 years now and I am thoroughly looking forward to developing the project in exciting and creative directions, across new areas of the industry, with the collaborative support of researchers and scientists working in the same fields.”
“I’d like to express special thanks to Mette for her support and encouragement, especially over the last 6 months and to Creative Scotland for their generous support with this position. The ‘Open Fund for Individuals’ has been crucial in the development of my work over the last year and I only hope that opportunities like this will again be made available in the future to my fellow artists.”
Founded in 2021, the CEE is on the frontiers of research into energy, sustainability, and climate change. The Artist-in-Residence helps to further this, encouraging artists to work closely with the Centre’s interdisciplinary community of more than 100 energy researchers from Arts, Humanities, and the Social and Natural Sciences. As the CEE’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence, Poet Rebecca Sharp documented much of her experience through her journal pieces, published on our website, and recently published Long Field Loop, a poetry collection inspired by her residency.
“We are thrilled to welcome Iain as our next Artist-in-Residence. The creative arts are fundamental to the work we do at the Centre as they help us create platforms for collaboration, inspire new projects, and challenge us to see perspectives we might not have considered before.” Said CEE Director Professor Mette High, “Iain’s residency, just like our previous Artist-in-Residence, is partly funded by Creative Scotland’s Open Fund for Individuals. This funding source is a lifeline for artists in Scotland. But, due to budget uncertainty from the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland recently announced the closure of this fund. I really hope this decision will be overturned as the creative sector in Scotland is already at crisis point. Being able to welcome Iain to the CEE at this very moment in time is thus extra precious and I can’t wait for us to get started!”
The Centre would like to thank the Gabrione Family for their donations and Creative Scotland for their generous support for this position. The Artist-in-Residency will provide an ideal opportunity to bring interdisciplinary energy research into dialogue with photography, inspiring and reinvigorating urgent reflections and actions on how we live with energy.
