Dr Michael Schofield

Profile

I’m an artist and researcher from Leeds. My interdisciplinary work often explores themes of place, memory and disappearance, alongside the haunting qualities of various media, including photography and electronic sound. Since 2013 I have directed several documentary films, staged exhibitions and installations, and written extensively on media spectrality.

In 2018 I was awarded a doctorate for my practice-led research entitled ‘Aura and Trace: The Hauntology of the Rephotographic Image’. My supervisors were Simon Popple and Dr. Jim Brogden, and the thesis was examined by Dr Kate Nash and Dr Sarah Atkinson (King’s College London). Since moving to a research contract in 2022, I am interested in supervising PhD students, particularly those engaged in practice research and photography.

I am currently involved in several self-directed research projects, including an extensive study on virtual photography and generative AI. As well as my various lens-based activities I am also a critically acclaimed musician investigating the hauntology of obsolete recording media. I publish and exhibit work under several different aliases including Michael C Coldwell and Conflux Coldwell.

Research interests

I am particularly interested in the changing ontology of media - the creative possibilities this present both artists and everyday users of technology. The recycling, upcycling and (re)appropriation of obsolete communication technologies, including rephotography, sampling, ‘salvagepunk’ and ‘hauntology’, is also of great interest to me as both an active creative practitioner and published media theorist. My most recent work explores the spectrality of artificial intelligence using creative practice. 

I have a broad range of other related research interests including, but not limited to:

• experimental documentary and essay film
• digital archives and creative practice
• media archaeology
• virtual media 
• immersive media and installation
• underground cinema and video art
• landscape and urban photography
• electronic music and sound art
• creative practice as research methodology
• memory studies (postmemory)
• generative AI

Qualifications

• PhD Communications Studies (Photography)
• MA Cinema and Photography
• BA (Hons) Visual Communication
• BTEC Foundation Art and Design

Professional memberships

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Student education

I teach on several undergraduate and postgraduate modules related to lens-based practices and media theory, supervising both dissertations and creative projects. I ran the BA Film, Photography and Media course for 4 years, developing new pedagogy for the degree. I’m particularly interested in helping students interrogate and develop theory through creative practice, and the role of generative AI in practical education.