Meet Dr Peter Ainsworth: Course Leader for MA Photography and Digital Practice (Online)

When did you first realise you were interested in photography? 

Photography has always been a way to pose ideas and act as a catalyst for my creative practice – whether as source material for work, combined with other media, or simply a way to think through things. About 15 years ago, I began seriously questioning how photography operates and the spaces in which it’s experienced. I became interested in the philosophy of images — how they function, circulate, and shape our understanding of the world.

I used to work mainly in analogue, shooting large-format landscapes that focused on the peripheries of London. But that changed when Apple released the iPhone 4 and Instagram began shaping how people shared and experienced photography — and on a personal level, I was using my smartphone more than my large-format camera or digital SLR to document the intimacies of my life.

Around that time, citizen journalism was also on the rise — from the Arab Spring to the events in London during the summer of 2011 in Tottenham, where I was living at the time. I think the surreality of looking out of my window, while following what was happening on the street through Twitter, had a significant effect on me, particularly as it was unfolding far faster than other media reporting.

I was slow to adopt digital technologies, so it wasn’t until mobile-phone cameras became more widely used than standalone cameras — that I began to change how I understood the medium. I think I was resistant to that change, continuing to use analogue photography, partly in defiance of how technology was being used to amplify issues like body dysmorphia, racial representation, and the idolisation of celebrities.

When automated photogrammetry apps like Trnio were released, I started to appreciate how new possibilities in imaging technology were being compressed into the mobile device. That’s when I saw photography and technology intersecting in ways I hadn’t seen before, and I wanted to explore further.

What does your creative journey look like?

I studied Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University, where I used photography as a source for printmaking or in combination with painting, collage, and sculptural installation. It was in my final year that my work became more focused on photography.

After graduating, I took some time out from education. My degree had given me lots to think about, and the transition back to London — rebuilding the communities I was part of while earning enough to sustain myself — took some time. During this period, I worked in various roles, including as a fabricator for Damien Hirst and at Tate, helping to install exhibitions such as the Turner Prize. Those experiences offered a valuable insight into how exhibitions are produced and how artworks circulate institutionally. I was also beginning to navigate a niche I wasn’t very familiar with - the photography world.

To develop my work further, I did several portfolio reviews and gained opportunities through them, particularly via Rhubarb Rhubarb in Birmingham and Format in Derby. The most valuable advice I received was that I needed to understand the medium I was working with in much greater depth, because my portfolio needed further development and focus. I applied for an MA in Photography at LCC, UAL, where the tutors significantly expanded my understanding of what photographic practice could be. It opened my eyes to new ways of thinking and making, which I’m very grateful for.

After completing my MA, I was fortunate to get sessional teaching work back in Nottingham, following a commission run jointly by the National Media Museum [Bradford] and Pavilion [Leeds]. Over the next 10 years, I taught in various roles across the UK until getting a job on the Photography BA at LCC in 2018. It wasn’t until I took some adult-education courses at the Mary Ward Centre — where I joined a series of seminars on contemporary philosophy — that I gained the confidence to publish my first peer-reviewed paper and apply for a practice-based PhD at Goldsmiths in the Department of Visual Culture. My research focused on how the computational imaging capabilities of mobile-phone technology can be used by museum visitors to explore and question the institutional narratives embedded within exhibition spaces.

What inspired you to teach photography?

My interest in teaching photography developed from questioning how images shape knowledge and how creative work depends on collaboration. Teaching extends that process — it’s about creating dialogue and experimentation in an environment of care and respect. My MA taught me the importance of collaborative practice, and working at Tate reinforced that creative processes are never individual; they rely on networks of people coming together to make something happen. I see teaching as a reciprocal exchange, supporting students in developing their own positions while continuing to refine my understanding of how imaging processes evolve and reshape cultural practices.

What’s one thing students might be surprised to learn about you? 

I’m into Jungle music — I have been since it emerged in the early 1990s. I still remember being a teenager and going to Blackmarket Records on D’Arblay Street when Metalheadz (Goldie)’s 1992 track Terminator came out and being completely blown away by its intensity in that loud, dark, and intimate basement space. Mark Fisher’s analysis of that tune in relation to hauntology really resonated with me when I read it while studying at Goldsmiths.

I’m not sure if it’s directly related, but I’m also fascinated by how speculative fiction and sci-fi have been used by Big Tech figures to imagine and legitimise their versions of the future — from Elon Musk’s references to Iain M. Banks’ post-scarcity society in the Culture series to Sam Altman’s comparison of GPT’s chat function to Spike Jonze’s film Her. There’s something significant in thinking through these different forms of world-building to understand the conditions of the present.

What's the most valuable thing you have learned in your career so far?  

I often return to the Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules, particularly at the start of academic terms. They remind me that creative practice depends on persistence, care, and open-mindedness — that nothing is a mistake, it’s OK to trust, and you can’t make and analyse at the same time.

I’ve learned that comparing yourself to others never leads anywhere productive. You have your own approach; others have theirs, and that’s OK. Being inspired to make work or to admire what you see is one thing — creative jealousy and triangulation are another. The culture you build around your work — one grounded in respect, equity, and openness — is as important as the work itself. It’s far more valuable to lift each other up than to buy into the models of competition and value that often pervade the arts.

Who inspires you in the industry, and why?

I love the work of Zanele Muholi. It’s both beautiful and challenging, connecting advocacy and community work with personal expression, a strong aesthetic, and innovative exhibition experiences.

I’m also deeply influenced by Hito Steyerl and her ability to translate and poetically explore complex ideas about technology in accessible, humorous, and thought-provoking ways. I’m particularly drawn to her performance lectures.

Ruha Benjamin’s writing on algorithmic bias and her insistence on imagining and growing the world has been instrumental in shaping the direction of my recent work — particularly in the development of this photography course.