Photographer Jim Cooke follows the river: Riparian at Portland's Drill Hall Gallery

Exhibition Preview: Riparian – Photography by Jim Cooke, Drill Hall Gallery, Portland, until November 24 2012

As part of their London 2012-backed Stone Island series of exhibitions and events, Dorset arts collective the Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust have made sterling use of the mid-19th century Drill Hall in Portland. Most notably they welcomed Japanese artists working with locally-quarried stone and sacred art-offering Tibetan Monks.

Their latest visitor, Jim Cooke, is a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton whose work is held by collections including the V&A. Riparian sees Cooke take the three strands of River, Marginal Plants of the Thames and a Microscope, illuminating plants at dusk in their position as borders between space and land.

“My initial studies involved isolating particular clumps of vegetation against a void of darkness, revealing the specific form and detail of certain species,” he says.

“I have worked along the river at different times through the whole year to give the work the seasonality it needs.

“As a walker, boater and fisherman I have long been aware of its beauty and diversity, but it is only recently that the familiarity has become a deeper fascination for me."

Cooke says work by photographers such as Susan Derges and Thomas Struth, as well as books on botanical illustration, have “fired my passion” and “strengthened my resolve” during an extensive research period.

He’s no stranger to the Hall, having previously been a co-researcher for the trust, contributed photos to archives and exhibitions about Portland stone and the regeneration of the quarry and led a week-long community photography course there as part of a community education campaign.

• Open Thursday-Sunday 11am-5pm. Admission free. Visit learningstone.org or www.jimcooke.co.uk for more.

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