A book of photographs documenting landscapes in UK shale gas regions is due to be published in the autumn.

Faultlines, by the fine art photographer John Volynchook, was a response to the proposal of the then Conservative-Lib Dem government in 2014 to go “all out for shale”.

Over six years, between 2015 and 2021, he travelled on foot and by bike along more than 2,000 miles of bridleways and paths, through UK licence blocks considered suitable for shale gas exploration.

He said the photographs, using traditional black and white film techniques, were inspired by the stories gathered from people he met on the journey.

They included campaigners at Preston New Road, in Lancashire, Kirby Misperton in North Yorkshire, Falkirk in the Scottish central lowlands, the Weald in southern England, the Isle of Wight and south-west England near Bristol.

John Volynchook said:

“People spoke of their attachment to the land and of their affection for the landscape.

“Regarding fracking proposals, everyone had similar concerns: ground water contamination, the impact on communities and the industrialisation of the countryside.”

He said:

“There was a deep sense of existential threat expressed for the landscape known since childhood, the landscapes of recreation, the landscape of farming and the potential loss of biodiversity.

“The photographs in Faultlines represent fragments of these contested landscapes”.

He said he also found positive outcomes from the campaigns against shale gas:

“Everywhere I went, the people who had formed anti-fracking groups had developed a new-found sense of community, which was very moving and very heartening.”

A moratorium on fracking in England was introduced in November 2019 and remains in force. This followed earlier moratoriums in Wales and Scotland.

Faultlines will be published by Gost Books, a leading publisher of photography books. General release is expected in October 2024. It includes an essay by Helen Baczkowska on the fracking in the UK. Read an extended version here.

The project was funded by an Arts Council lottery grant, personal savings and from a recent kickstarter appeal, which will pay for publishing and distributing the book. The kickstarter appeal, where signed books are available at a special price, runs until 5pm on Thursday 29 August 2024.

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