Robert Darch


Robert Darch is a British artist-photographer. His first book, The Moor, was published in 2018.

Life and work

Darch was born in Birmingham and grew up in Droitwich Spa. He studied Documentary Photography at University of Wales, Newport, graduating in 2004. He returned to study photography at Plymouth University in 2013 after a long period of illness, gaining a Masters in Photography & The Book and an MFA in Photographic Arts.
Darch's work was included in the book Another Country: British Documentary Photography Since 1945, by Gerry Badger and published by Thames & Hudson.
Darch resides in Devon, England, where he located the fictional town of Durlescombe, the setting for an on-going series exploring his familial attachment to this specific region of England.
The Moor depicts a fictionalised dystopian future situated on the bleak moorland landscapes of Dartmoor, Devon.
Vale reflects on a long period of ill health Darch suffered in his twenties and the isolation and loneliness he experienced because of that. Whilst he was ill he would get lost in daydream and fiction, creating imaginary worlds to temper the isolation and sadness. Vale reflects on this lost time and imagines a fictional summer spent swimming in rivers and exploring woods, underscored by a sustained sense of eeriness.

Publications

Publications by Darch