Alan McFetridge, photographic artist and researcher

Alan McFetridge is a photographic artist and researcher from Aotearoa/New Zealand, based in London. His work examines landscape fire, ecology, climate change and public memory through photography, books, exhibitions, field research and public programming.

His long-term projects consider how communities live with fire and how photographic practice can contribute to ecological understanding, public memory and cultural repair. Working across Canada, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Greece, Turkey and the UK, McFetridge brings together field photography, environmental history, fire science and collaboration with artists, researchers and community partners.

Alan McFetridge standing beside a large framed photograph from Fire North: Book One, showing the aftermath of the Fort McMurray wildfire in Alberta, Canada. Studio portrait, 2026. — Alan McFetridge with *My sorrow comes at dawn*, 2017
From *Fire North: Book One*, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Studio portrait, 2026.

Biography

Alan McFetridge is a visual artist and researcher whose work examines the global impact of landscape fire, ecological change and public memory. His projects combine photography, environmental history, field research and collaboration with communities, artists, scientists and cultural institutions.

In 2016, McFetridge was awarded the Royal Photographic Society Environmental Awareness Bursary, enabling fieldwork in Fort McMurray, Alberta, after the Horse River Wildfire. This work became the foundation for On The Line and the long-term project Fire North: Book One, a photographic monograph on the aftermath of one of the most significant urban wildfires in modern Canadian history.

His field studies have taken him to Canada, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Greece, Turkey and the UK. Across these sites, McFetridge has worked with the aftermath of wildfire, Indigenous fire knowledge, experimental burns, satellite imagery, photographic publication and public ecological reflection.

McFetridge’s work has been presented through exhibitions, books, talks and academic contexts. His photographic series Songs of the Dead was published in Sophia Journal, and he has presented research at the Association for Art History Annual Conference and Johns Hopkins University. His work has received five Prix Pictet nominations and he was a finalist for the International Marianne Brandt Award for Connectedness – Experiments on a New Relationship with Nature.

His practice continues to ask how photography can help people look carefully at fire, landscape and ecological transformation. The central message of the work remains: we must relearn how to live with fire.

Exhibitions, Publications, Awards and Editorial Recognition

2026
Solo exhibition, Daisy Green Collection, Holland Park
2024
Solo exhibition, Earth Day. Lauderdale House, London
2022
Falling Walls Breakthrough of the Year nomination
Selected for London Creative Network
International Marianne Brandt Award, Connectedness – Experiments on a New Relationship with Nature.
Nomination, Falling Walls Breakthrough of the Year, Art and Science category.
Sophia Journal - Landscapes of Care in Unstable Territories
2021
Prix Pictet Fire Cycle, 5 nominations.
Climates of Colonialism, UK Association for Art History Annual Conference.
Feature, The Royal Photographic Society Journal.
Exhibition The Royal Photographic Society IPE 162

2020
On The Line selected for Fotobook Festival Oslo.
The Royal Photographic Society artist talk.
Beverley Art Gallery, Beverley, with RPS IPE 162
Oriel Art Gallery, Theatr Clwyd, with RPS IPE 162

2019
On The Line, published.
Feature, The Guardian Australia.
Feature, The Royal Photographic Society Journal.
Solo exhibition, Wedge Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2018
Blatna Foto Festival, Czech Republic
2017
Syngenta Photography Award, Grow/Conserve, Somerset House, London
The Royal Photographic Society 160th International Print Exhibition
2016
Royal Photographic Society Environmental Awareness Bursary
LeBook Berlin Creative Awards, personal project
Sunday Best, publication
2015
RPS 158th International Print Exhibition
Hidden in Plain Sight, Exhibition. Norwich University of the Arts
2014
Flat 15 | 12 Balfron Tower, Bow Arts, London
Shortlisted, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

2013
Composites, solo exhibition, Long White Cloud Gallery, London
Capture Magazine interview, Australia

2012
2x2, solo exhibition, Long White Cloud Gallery, London
Disappearing Act, solo exhibition, Long White Cloud Gallery, London

2011
Blink, East London PhotoMonth, Long White Cloud Gallery, London
Into the Wild, Long White Cloud Gallery, London

2009
RPS International Print Exhibition
Lens Modern Exposed, Daylight Zone Studios, London
Speaker at Tate Britain’s initiative Raw Canvas, UK.
2007
Communication Arts Photography Annual
Photo District News Photography Annual
200 Best Ad Photographers Worldwide
Lürzer’s Archive

2006
Because you’re worth it, g&A Studios, Sydney
The Awards, Judges’ Choice, Association of Photographers
200 Best Ad Photographers Worldwide, Lürzer’s Archive
Photo District News Photography Annual
Cones of Zonact, publication

2005
Communication Arts Photography Annual 46.

2004
Silver Award, Association of Photographers 21st Photographers’ Awards.
Featured in Creative Review.
200 Best Ad Photographers Worldwide
2002
Work published in The Association of Photographers 19th Awards.

2001
Silver Medal, Royal Photographic Society 144th International Print Exhibition.
Featured in RPS Journal, May 2001.
John Kobal Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, London
AN for Artists, interview

Chronology graphic mapping Alan McFetridge’s artistic practice from 2013 to 2023, including fieldwork in Aotearoa, Australia, Greece and the UK; the Fire North and Songs of the Dead projects; On The Line; Prix Pictet nominations. — **Above: Alan McFetridge, practice chronology, 2013–2023**
Mapping fieldwork, publications, exhibitions, awards, nominations and the development of the Centre for Ecological Philosophy.