Nunhead Cemetery-- a hidden green space in South East London, which feels like an eco-oasis in an urban area. Interestingly, many of the green spaces in this part of the city are graveyards, raising the idea that nature and the dead are often forgotten together.

This led to a broader discussion on how humans are part of nature, not separate from it. Our bodies return to the earth after death, just as we transform plants, air, and water to sustain ourselves while alive. This entangled relationship makes Nunhead Cemetery an interesting space to explore.

Artistic Approaches:

• Installation Format: Ke suggested an installation to explore these ideas.

• Photography & Sound Collaboration: Dan proposed integrating photography and sound.

• Acoustic Ecology: Yifan introduced the concept of hearing human impact on nature, contrasting photography’s stillness with sound’s ability to capture presence and interaction.

We then discussed shifting the perspective: rather than just documenting nature, what if we document each other? Sound students could record photographers interacting with nature, while photographers capture sound students recording the environment. This layered approach—a gaze of a gaze—could challenge the anthropocentric view that places humans as observers and nature as a passive subject.

We can’t speak for nature’s experience, but we can document our roles and question our interactions. Perhaps this documentation itself could become part of the final piece, blending photography and projection.

Contact microphones: flat microphones that pic up vibrations (sound) through contact on a surface.

Hydrophones: microphones that pick up sound vibrations through water

Geophones: Microphones with a probe that pick up vibrations through the ground

Handheld recorders: we are using Zoom H5s. These are handheld devices with in built stereo microphones but also have XLR and Jack inputs to plug in external microphones. These are lightweight and portable. Sounds are saved onto an SD card

Shotgun microphones: These are sensitive microphones that pick up the very specific sounds they are pointed at. They can come in big cases with wind muffs (think boom microphones you see on film sets). This means you can record outside without wind distortion.

Binaural microphones: mics that sit in your ears like headphones and record what the listeners hears. We'll be playing around with these on Wednesday

I think it went more into this in another book I have so I can find that if anyone's interested