Tessa Bunney

Qualifications and training

• Northern Lights Masterclass at Noorderlicht, The Netherlands (2011/12)
• Hinterlands, 5 day multimedia 'photofilm' workshop run by Duckrabbit (2011)
• MA Photography, De Montfort University, Leicester (2004)
• BA Audio-Visual studies (photography), West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham (1988)

Selected solo exhibitions

• What the sea decides to give you, The Dock Museum, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria (July-October 2026)
• The Forest of Flowers, Ryedale Film and Photo Festival, Malton, North Yorkshire (June to August 2026)
• Farm / Mill / Bake commissioned and exhibited by Ryedale Folk Museum, North Yorkshire (2024/5)
• Made out of Orchards, The Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol (2022) and Hereford Cider Museum in 2024/5
• Going to the Sand, Lancaster Maritime Museum, Ropes and Twines (Liverpool) and currently touring Morecambe Bay (2022-24)
• Otherwise Unseen, Side Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2020)
• The Women of UCT6, The Northern Eye Festival, Colwyn Bay, North Wales (2019)
• FarmerFlorist, Oriel Colwyn, Colwyn Bay, North Wales and Ryedale Folk Museum (2018/19)
• Novice, La Maison de la Culture, Vientiane, Laos in collaboration with Mick Shippen (2016)
• The Nam Ou - exhibited at a hydropower conference in partnership with IFC, Vientiane Laos (2016)
• Khin Khao / Let's Eat, I:cat Gallery, Vientiane, Laos in collaboration with Mick Shippen (2015)
• Open Water Swimming, Photofusion, London (2014)
• The Women of UTC6T, Monument Books Gallery, Vientiane, Laos (2013)
• The Hereford, Hereford Cathedral during Hereford Photography Festival (2010)
• Home Work, Light House, Wolverhampton (2010)
• Home Work, The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate (2009)
• Hand to Mouth, Peninsula Arts, University of Plymouth (2009)
• Hand to Mouth, Impressions Gallery, Bradford, UK (2007)
• Green Fingers, Format 05, Derby (2005) 
• Moor and Dale, Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate (2004)
• Moor and Dale (as part of Hereford photography festival), Dennis Potter Gallery, Ross-on-Wye (2004)
• Upshoots, Helmsley Arts Centre, Helmsley, York (2004)
• Lamb, The Old Meeting House, Helmsley (2001)
• Eat Better, Eat British, works in progress, Site Gallery Café, Sheffield (2000)
• Living In A Lamp Post toured nationally (1992 - 1997)

Selected group exhibitions

• UK Women - British Photography between Social Criticism and Identity, Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen (2024)
• Facing Britain: British Documentary Photography since the 1960s, Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Germany and touring (2021/22)
• The Flower Fields as part of Observe Experiment Archive at Sunderland Museum and Winter Garden (2019/20)
• About the North: Imagined Dialogues, The Side Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (2018)
• Hit The North curated by Hobophoto at Manchester Central Library (2018)
• Picturing Women, The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate (2018)
• Craft Explorers, Penang State Museum, George Town, Malaysia (2017)
• Sea Swim, Peninsula Arts, University of Plymouth and touring (2016/7)
• Jarvenjaa/Lakeice exhibited at the Carlisle Photo Festival (2013)
• Innostaa/Inspire, Connections North, touring exhibition in UK and Finland (2012/13)
• Serpentine Swimming Club series in Dive! The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate (2012)
• Land, Klompching Gallery, New York, USA (2011)
• Land, Country Life in the Urban Age, Noorderlicht Festival, The Netherlands (2010)
• Twenty, Hereford Photography Festival (2010)
• Home Work, Descubrimientos PHE, Photo España Festival, Madrid (2009)
• Splash!, Klompching Gallery, New York (2009)
• Terry O'Neill Award 08, The Independent Photographers Gallery, Battle (2008)
• Hand to Mouth, Descubrimientos PHE, PHoto España Festival, Madrid (2006)
• Focus on Farmers, Buckland Abbey, Yelverton, Devon (2004)
• Lamb, as part of Brilliant, Impressions, York (2000)

Residencies

• The Curfew Tower, Cushendall, Northern Ireland (Dec 2023)
• Fair Isle Studio, Fair Isle, Shetland, Scotland (2021)
• Artist in residence, Project Space, Luang Prabang, Laos (2012)
• Connections North, International Residency Exchange Project, Jyväskylä Printmaking Centre, Jyväskylä, Central Finland (2010)
• Inspired by Heritage residency, Newby Hall, Ripon, UK (2009)
• Artist in residence, Royal Show, Stoneleigh (2004)
• Artist in residence, Artist Centre of Inari at Koppelo, Northern Finland (2003)
• Focus on Farmers residency, Warren Farm, Exmoor, Aune Head Arts with Beaford Arts (2003)
• Artist in residence, Gil Society studio-workshop, Akureyri, Iceland (2003)

Selected commissions

• Farm / Mill / Bake commissioned and exhibited by Ryedale Folk Museum, North Yorkshire (2024/5)
• Commissioned artist in South Shields for Beach of Dreams, a UK-wide coastal arts festival, May 2025
• Save our Sea - TPA/RPS Environmental Bursary 2022 to work with fishermen from the Teesside and Yorkshire coast
• Made out of Orchards, a commission from the Martin Parr Foundation to document Somerset cider makers (2019)
• The Flower Fields, flower farming and technology in Lincolnshire commissioned by NEPN (North East Photography Network) (2019/20)
• 209 Women: 209 portraits of all female MPs, being created by a collective of 209 UK based female photographers to mark the centenary of the first vote for women shown at the Houses of Parliament and Open Eye Gallery (2018)
• Currently working on Arts Council funded project 'Celebrating Age' in collaboration with Rural Arts and Thirsk Community Care (2017)
• Commission from Sheffield NHS Trust to produce artwork for Weston Park Hospital Ward 3 (2017)
• Commission from Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust to produce artwork for Acomb Garth hospital, York (2017)
• Presentation of my work at the British Council conference Craft Reveals - new paths towards sustainability in Chiang Mai, Thailand (2016)
• Commission from International Finance Corporation (IFC) to document hydropower consultation in Myanmar (2016)
• Photography of artists taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios commissioned by Chrysalis Arts (2016)
• Media and climate change story gathering trip in the Mekong Region (Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam) with Oxfam GB (2015)
• Development and implementation of photographic training for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) (2014/5)
• 3 commissions from Oxfam GB to work on documentation and fundraising campaigns in The Philippines post typhoon Haiyan (2014)
• Commission from Rural Arts North Yorkshire to produce artwork for two North Yorkshire hospitals (2013/4)
• Commission from the Mercer Art Gallery to produce a photofilm about The Serpentine Swimming Club for the exhibition 'Dive' (2012)
• Commission from Yorkshire Artspace to produce work for Parson X multiples project (2011)
• Commission from Hereford Photography Festival to photograph the Hereford cow for exhibition at the festival in October 2010

Competitions, prizes and awards

• Travel Photographer of the Year Finalist (2017) TBA
• Nominated for the Remote Photo Festival Prize, Donegal, Ireland (2015)
• Winner of the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year Award for my image of a Vietnamese noodle maker (2014)
• 2 nominations for Prix Pictet - the global award in photography and sustainability (theme: consumption) (2013)
• Field, Forest and Family, Grants for the Arts Award from Arts Council England (2012)
• Travel Photographer of the Year, Finland series commended in Cultures and Traditions portfolio (2011)
• Honorable mention in the Landscape catergory of the Julia Margaret Cameron Award (2011)
• Field, Forest and Family, G4A research and development award from Arts Council England (2011)
• Best photography portfolio, Format Festival International Portfolio Review, Derby (2011)
• Extending Practice Award, Chrysalis Arts Development (2010)
• Brilliant Book Awards, Ag magazine, 3rd prize for Yunnan (2010)
• Honorable Mention in Portrait, People and Figure category of the Julia Margaret Cameron Award (2010)
• Home Work, G4A grant from Arts Council England for publication (2010)
• Project Assistance Award, British Journal of Photography/Nikon, (shortlisted) (2010) 
• Home Work, Travel Photographer of the Year, second in Life portfolio (2008)
• Joan Wakelin Bursary, The RPS and The Guardian, (finalist) 2008
• Terry O'Neill Award 08, The Independent Photographers Gallery, Battle, (shortlisted) (2018)
• Home Work, G4A grant from Arts Council England, to attend rhubarb-rhubarb (2007)
• Northern Arts Prize, nominated by Pippa Oldfield, Impressions Gallery (2007)
• Hand to Mouth, shortlisted for the Descubrimientos PHE 06 Award, Photo Espana (2006)
• Roadside Stall, Rucar Pass, shortlisted, Observer 'Seeds of Change' Competition (2006)
• Hand to Mouth, G4A Arts Council England , Production Award (2004)
• Hand to Mouth, European Cultural Foundation, S.T.E.P. Beyond Award (2003)
• Hand to Mouth, G4A Arts Council England , Research and Development Award (2003)
• upshoots, Yorkshire Arts, Making and Showing Award (2002)
• Eat Better, Eat British, honourable mention, Leica Oskar Barnack Award (2000)
• Iceland, Yorkshire Arts, Training and Development Scheme International Award (2000)
• Eat Better, Eat British, Yorkshire Arts, Photography Development Award (1999)
• Living in a Lamp Post, Yorkshire Arts, Production Award (1991)

Publications

• Going to the Sand published by Another Place Press (2023)
• Cider commissioned and published by the Martin Parr Foundation (2022)
• The Flower Fields commissioned and published by NEPN (North East Photography Network) (2021)
• FarmerFlorist published by Another Place Press as part of their Field Notes series (2020)
• Jarvenjaa | Lakeice self published artists book with short story by Riikka Ala-Harja (2012)
• Home Work published by Dewi Lewis Publishing (2010)
• Hand to Mouth published by Impressions Gallery, Bradford (2007)
• Focus on Farmers published by Aune Head Arts with Beaford Arts (2007)
• Moor and Dale published by The Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate (2004)
• upshoots publlished by Rural Arts North Yorkshire (2003)
• Peabody People published by The Peabody Housing Trust (2001)
• Brilliant published by The Culture Company, Leeds (2000)

Selected bibliography

• The shadow of tragedy hanging over Morecambe’s cocklepickers, The Observer, 4 February 2024 and on-line
• Save our Sea in The Journal of The Royal Photographic Society, January - March 2024
• Fair Isle’s Splendid Isolation in The Telegraph Saturday Magazine, 20 January 2024 (with Sophie Gerrard)
• Portrait of Britain Vol 6 (2024)
• FarmerFlorist featured in ‘Invisible Island’ in British Journal of Photography, Issue 7909, 2022
• The Flower Fields, Geographical Magazine, December issue, 2022
• Schatz im Schlick (Treasure in the Mud), 11 page feature in Stern magazine, 10.6.21 and also in View, April 2022
• FarmerFlorist in A Woman's Work published by Ffotogallery, Cardiff, 2019
• Hand to Mouth in Rakes Progress, 2017
• Soaring Ahead - in Southeast Asia Globe, March 2017
• The Bomb Squad in Professional Photography, Jan/Feb 2017
• Green Fingers - a story about Hmong women and hemp in the Southeast Asia Globe, March 2016
• Shoot stories interview in the Telegraph On-line about photographing the Bantayan fishing community after Typhoon Haiyan, 2014
• Instagram takeover for @telegraphtelephoto, September 2014
• The Women of UCT6, feature about an all-female UXO clearance team in Laos in FT Weekend Magazine, 6 April 2013
• The Women of UCT6 in The Other Hundred, a book project 'telling the other side of the story', 2013
• Mousehole tidal pool in National Geographic, June 2012
• Cold Comforts - Finnish ice swimming feature in Lonely Planet Traveller, Dec 2012
• Fire-cracker diary, 2012
• A Drop of the Ocean, feature about tidal swimming pools in FT Weekend Magazine, 6 August 2011
• Home Work book featured in Selvedge, Issue 39 March/April 2011
• Home Work book review in The Global Journal 2011 #3 2011
• Home Work featured on fire-cracker.org, an online platform for european women photographers
• Home Work review on Joerg Colberg's blog Conscientous, 28 Jan 2011
• Home Work, Private n.51 - Global Report 2, International Review of Photographs, 2010
• The Dignity of Work, short book review of Home Work in Source, Issue 64, 2010
• Home Work, Land, Country Life in the Urban Age, Noorderlicht Festival Catalogue, 2010
• L'Insense Photo, No 8, British Photographers, 2010
• Home Work, Geographical Magazine, February 2010
• Hand to mouth, Daylight Magazine, Issue #7, Agriculture, 2008
• Home Work, Portfolio, Contemporary Photography in Britain #48 2008
• Home Work, Project Assistance Awards, British Journal of Photography, 2007
• Hand to Mouth in HotShoe, pp10-17, October 2007
• Review of Hand to Mouth exhibition, Source, pp 56-7, Winter 2007 Issue 53
• Hand to Mouth in Frankfurter Rundschau Magazin, Germany, p8, issue no 44 2006
• Moor and Dale featured in Photo Projects by Chris Dickie, pp85-88 2006
• Moor and Dale in Zoom, Italy, pp 10-15, issue no 73 2006
• Hand to Mouth, 8 photojournalism magazine, pp 60-55, issue no V4N1 2006
• Lamb, Ag Darkroom Practice & Photography Vol 24 2001
• Lamb, Photo Art International, Issue 23 2001
• Lamb, Yorkshire Life, March issue 2001

Also on-line features and reviews on Fire-cracker, Photomonitor, Lens-Culture, 1000 words, Flak-photo, Verve, Photo-eye magazine, E-photoreview, Wayne Ford's posterous.