Tessa Bunney gained an MA in Photography from De Montfort University (UK) in 2004. Bunney's projects include Moor and Dale which has been shown widely in the UK including the Hereford Photography Festival. Eat Better, Eat British received an Honourable Mention in the Leica Oskar Barnack Award and was shown at Recontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles. Residencies have included the Artist Centre of Inari at Koppelo, Northern Finland and the Gil Society Studio-Workshop, Akureyri in Iceland. Tessa Bunney lives inYorkshire (UK) with her husband and son.

Hand to Mouth explores the lives of villagers and nomadic shepherds in Romania's Carpathian Mountains. Made over a period of four years, Tessa Bunney worked closely with these communities, spending prolonged periods in villages and shepherd camps. As the title suggests, these people survive precariously by their own labour, bringing a new reality to our often idealised notion of self-sufficiency.

Bunney takes us on a journey through seasons, witnessing the changing landscape and the rhythms of rural activities: cheese making, crop harvesting and sheep milking. Her photographs reveal a way of life that is at times idyllic, yet often harsh. With Romania's new European Union membership and its associated health regulations, this mountain culture, rich in traditions linked closely with the land, is now under threat.

Hand to Mouth is currently showing for the first time at Impressions Gallery, Bradford (UK). The Hand to Mouth monograph, was published in conjunction with the exhibition.

Selected Exhibitions

2007

Hand to Mouth, Impressions Gallery, Bradford (UK)

2005

Green Fingers, Format05 Festival, Derby (UK)

2004

Moor and Dale, Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate (UK)

Moor and Dale, The Dales Countryside Museum, Hawes(UK)

Moor and Dale, Hereford Photography Festival, Hereford (UK)

Moor and Dale, Nidderdale (UK)

Focus on Farmers, Buckland Abbey, Devon (UK)

2001

Lamb, The Old Meeting House, Helmsley (UK)

Lamb, Artlink Exchange, Hull (UK)

2000

Brilliant, Impressions Gallery, York (UK)

Eat Better, Eat British, 31st Recontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles (France)

Eat Better, Eat British, Site Gallery, Sheffield (UK)

Selected Awards & Grants

2007

Nominated for the Northern Arts Prize (UK)

2000 — 2006

Shortlisted for Descubrimientos PHE06 Award, Photo Espana

European Cultural Foundation, Research and Development Grant

Arts Council England, Research and Development Grant

Littoral Arts and Arts Council England, New Audiences Program Grant

Year of the Artist Award, Arts Council England

Honorable Mention, Leica Oskar Barnack Award

Publications & Press

2000 — 2007

Hand to Mouth, Impressions Gallery, Bradford (UK)

Focus on Farmers, Aune Head Arts & Beaford Arts (UK)

Moor and Dale, The Mercer Art Gallery (UK)

Upshoots, rural Arts North Yorkshire (UK)

Peabody People, The Peabody Housing Trust (UK)

Brilliant, The Culture Company (UK)

Periodicals & Articles

Hotshoe (UK), Zoom (Italy), Frankfurter Rundschau Magazin (Germany), foto8 (UK), BBC1 Countryfile (UK), Yorkshire Life (UK), AG Darkroom Practice & Photography (UK), Photo Art International (UK), British Journal of Photography (UK)