Robert Darch

Robert Darch is one of the most significant photographers working with the Dartmoor landscape today. Based in Devon, he holds an MFA with distinction in Photographic Arts and an MA with distinction in Photography & The Book, both from Plymouth University, where he is now an Associate Lecturer in Photography. His practice is rooted in the experience of place — specifically the way physical geography, material culture and personal history merge to shape our perception of landscape. From these varied sources, both real and imagined, he builds photographic narratives that locate the viewer firmly within a specific world. His first book, 'The Moor' (2018, Another Place Press), launched at the Martin Parr Foundation, is a seminal work: a fictionalised dystopian response to Dartmoor's bleak and atmospheric high moor, shot in characteristically overcast and wintry conditions. The book received widespread critical acclaim and is held in public and private collections including those of the Victoria & Albert Museum. His subsequent series 'Durlescombe' is an ongoing documentary project exploring the landscape and people of the country between Dartmoor and Exmoor, intertwined with personal family history traced back to the Norman Conquest. Darch's work has been exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally, including at the Pingyao International Photography Festival in China, Look Photo Biennal in Liverpool, and featured in Gerry Badger's authoritative survey 'Another Country: British Documentary Photography Since 1945' (Thames & Hudson). He was a winner of the British Journal of Photography's Portrait of Britain and was included in the landmark 2024 exhibition 'Dartmoor: A Radical Landscape' at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.