Robert Darch

Robert Darch (born 1979) is a British artist-photographer. His first book, The Moor, was published in 2018.

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 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.

Darch's documentary-style images, both archival and contemporary, of the fictional town of Durlescombe harken back to some of the long-standing questions about the veracity of photography. Ranging from portraits to the smallest details of rural life, the series works together to paint a convincing picture of this non-existent village. But beyond this conceptual framework, his photographs are also powerful atmospheric constructions. There's a great tension between stillness and motion in many of his images, used successfully along with bold composition strategies. — Cliff Lauson, Hayward Gallery, 2016

Darch's first photo-book, The Moor (2018), depicts a fictionalised dystopian future situated on the bleak moorland landscapes of Dartmoor, Devon.

Publications by Darch

• The Moor. Another Place, 2018. ISBN 9781999607746. Edition of 500 copies.

Publications with contributions by Darch

• Portrait of Britain Vol 1. London: Hoxton Mini Press, 2018. ISBN 9781910566381.
• Portrait of Britain Vol 2. London: Hoxton Mini Press, 2019. ISBN 9781910566541.

• 2016: Portrait Salon, for "Boys on the Estuary"
• 2017: Winner, single image in Life category, Renaissance Photography Prize
• 2018: Portrait of Britain, British Journal of Photography
• 2019: Portrait of Britain, British Journal of Photography

• Distinctly, Look Photo Biennal, Liverpool, U.K., September 2019. Work by Darch and Martin Parr, Chris Killip, Daniel Meadows, John Myers, Markéta Luskačová, Tish Murtha, Ken Grant,Niall McDiarmid and Kirsty Mackay.

• Distinctly, Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China, September 2018. Work by Darch and Martin Parr, Chris Killip, Daniel Meadows, John Myers, Markéta Luskačová, Tish Murtha, Ken Grant, Paul Seawright, Niall McDiarmid, Elaine Constantine, and Kirsty Mackay.