Below is a condensed summary of my career to date. To find about my rope access work, click here.
If you require any other information, please email me at:
info_at_pwhole.com 

Photo by Chris Saunders Photo by Phil Wolstenholme

 

 

Artworks, Published Work, Exhibitions:

2024:
1. September - BCRA's Annual Review layout completed, featuring one of my cave and mine photos.
2. July - article by me in PDMHS Newsletter 191 on historical graffiti in Eldon Hole.
3. May:  Produced cover design and layout for
Mzylkypop's Threnodies and Ad Hocs on the Discus Music label.

2023:
1. September - BCRA's Annual Review layout completed, featuring several of my cave and mine photos.
2. January - release of BCRA's new publication Exploring the Karst and Caves of the Gower Peninsula with proof-editing and layout by me.

2022:
1. December - 30th anniversary edition of Warp Records' Artificial Intelligence compilation album, with my cover image reproduced on t-shirts and limited-edition prints, with 200 signed by me.
2. October - PDMHS' Mining History special double-edition issue released on Masson Cavern, with layout and proof-editing by me.
3. September - BCRA's Annual Review layout completed, featuring several of my cave and mine photos.
4. April - another layout of PDMHS' Mining History, with an additional four-page spread of my photographs of an undocumented section of Odin Mine in Castleton.

2021:
1. October - large feature article by me in Descent magazine, Issue 282 on the Eldon Hole bones recovery operation in July 2021, including several of my photographs.
2. October- Release of PDMHS' Mining History, on Dale Mine, Ecton, with all editing and layout done by me.
3. August - several of my photographs used in The Derbyshire Caver to illustrate a large feature on the Eldon Hole bones recovery operation in July 2021.
4. May - Release of two new Cabarat Voltaire albums - BN9Drone and Dekadrone, and a 12" EP Shadow of Funk, on vinyl and CD, with all layout and image-processing done by me.
5. April - Release of PDMHS' Mining History, with multiple topics, with all editing and layout done by me.

2020:
1. October - Release of first Cabaret Voltaire album since 1994, with Shadow of Fear - on vinyl and CD, with all layout and image-processing done by me.
2. October - Release of PDMHS' Mining History on the UNEXMIN underwater remote exploration of Ecton Copper Mine, with all editing and layout done by me.

2019:
1. September - Major paper and photos (18 pages) on the excavation, restoration and further exploration of Longcliffe Mine, Castleton, in the biannual PDMHS bulletin Mining History, Vol. 20, No.5.
2. August - Release of Lure of the Hole, a collaborative soundwork between myself and Dominika Wróblewska available to stream and buy on Bandcamp. Short essay released on sound underground.
3. August - Release of two new Cabaret Voltaire albums, 1974-76 and Chance Versus Causality with layout, new artwork and image-processing by me.
4. August - Photo of Dominika Wróblewska recording drips in Peak Cavern and a short article on a collaborative soundwork project in Descent magazine, Issue 269.
5. April - Photo of Peakshole Sough mine published in Descent magazine, Issue 268.
6. April - First edition of The Derbyshire Caver magazine as its editor, and an article published on the Longcliffe Mine grille lift, with artwork by Dominika Wróblewska.
7. January - Article on an unnamed pipe-working on Pindale Side published in edition 168 of the PDMHS Newsletter.

2018:
1. April - Update article on the explorations made during Longcliffe Mine excavation and restoration project in The Derbyshire Caver, No. 148, including several of my photos.
2. April - Article on the explorations made during Longcliffe Mine excavation and restoration project in Descent magazine, issue 261, including eight of my photos.
3. March - Article on mining artefacts raised during the Longcliffe Mine excavation and restoration project in edition 166 of the PDMHS newsletter.

2017:
1. November - Interview with Oli Warwick for Red Bull Music Academy on my early CG album cover work for Warp Records and others.
2. October - Editing, design, layout and primary contributor to TSG 19, the Journal of the Technical Speleological Group. 206 pages in full colour, with several articles and a huge amount of my underground photographs included. Superb review by Chris Howes in Descent magazine, Issue 259 (Dec-Jan).
3. June - Layout and design of Richard H Kirk solo album 'Dasein', on gatefold vinyl and CD.
4. January - 2 photos of Cavedale Cave #1 featured in Descent magazine, issue 254.
5. January - Photos of Stoke Sough lead mine featured in the 2017 AditNow calendar.

2016:
1. December - Image-processing, design and layout work on two major CD box-sets of Richard H Kirk and Sandoz CD re-releases on Mute.
2. August - Article on the Krypton Series resurvey in Peak Cavern with several photos (including one full-page) in Descent magazine, issue 251.
3. June - Article on Longcliffe Mine project published in Descent magazine, issue 250. Also an excellent review of the new book in the same issue by Chris Howes.
4. April - New book with Dr. Jim Rieuwerts, The Castleton Mines released by Hucklow Publishing, featuring a huge amount of my underground photography and also written exploration contributions.
5. April - Photos of Speedwell Mine published in The Derbyshire Caver, No. 140.
6. March - Photos used to illustrate an article on Lathkill Head Cave, in issue 248 of Descent magazine.
7. January - Photos of the Miner's Chamber, Speedwell Mine featured in the 2016 AditNow calendar.
8. January - set of photographs of graffiti in Cumberland Cavern published in a paper by John Barnatt in Cave and Karst Science, Volume 42 Issue 3.
9
.  January - Article on the Miner's Chamber, Speedwell Mine published in edition 157 of the PDMHS newsletter.

2015:
1. December - Article and photographs of Longcliffe Mine published in The Derbyshire Caver, No. 139.
2. October - Article and photographs published on discoveries in the Lower Bung Stopes, Speedwell Cavern, Castleton in Descent magazine, issue 246.
3. October - Article and photograph published on Slate Scrin Mine, Castleton in edition 156 of the PDMHS newsletter.
4. July - Article published on further discoveries in the Pit Props Series and the Lower Bung Stopes, Speedwell Cavern, Castleton in edition 155 of the PDMHS newsletter.
5. July - Photographs of Yatestoop Sough featured in Millclose Mine, by Dr. Jim Rieuwerts, published by Hucklow Publishing. Also photographed and digitally enhanced many old mine maps for the book production.
6. April - Condensed article and many photographs of explorations in the Pit Props Passage system, Speedwell Cavern, Castleton published in Cave and Karst Science, Volume 42 Issue 1, along with a new survey by Wayne Sheldon and additional contributions by geologists Trevor Ford OBE, Richard Shaw and Noel Worley.
7. April - Article published on a hitherto-unknown Castleton mine on Michill Bank in edition 153 of the PDMHS newsletter.

2014:
1. Photo of Moss Rake underground vein structure published in Mining History, Volume 18, No. 6.
2. Article and photographs on explorations in James Hall's Over Engine Mine published in Descent magazine, issue 241.
3. Article published
on artefact discoveries in Speedwell mine, Castleton, in edition 151 of the PDMHS newsletter. Brass waistcoat buttons and a miner's pick recorded.
4. Large-scale panoramic photograph created for Museums Sheffield and Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust and used at Weston Park Museum for a permanent installation Natural Connections.
5. Article published
on Black Rock mine, Bradwell in edition 150 of the PDMHS newsletter.

2013:
1. Adventurers in the Lead Trade, by Dr. Jim Rieuwerts published July 2013 by Hucklow Publishing. Features extensive underground photography of lead mines discussed in the text, and I also designed the dust-jacket image.

2012:
1. My image from Rhosydd Slate Mine featured in Descent magazine, issue 229.
2. Article and two photographs of explorations of Middle Engine Mine on Hassop Common published in edition 143 of the PDMHS newsletter. Also includes my photo of a recent visit by the Duchess of Devonshire to Rookery Black Marble Mine, Ashford-on-the-Water.
3. Won first prize in the AditNow annual mine exploration photographic competition with my photo of The Twll in Rhosydd Slate Mine.

2011:
1. Photo of Spheron panoramic camera tests in Temple Mine, Matlock Bath published in Descent magazine, issue 223.
2. Two lead mine photographs on the back cover of Descent magazine, Issue 222.

3. Three framed photographs on display and available to buy at The Old Sweet Shop Gallery, Sheffield.
4. Opened Lost to Light, the annual exhibition by ISSA (The International Society for Spelaeological Art) on Saturday 20th August 2011 at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery.

2010:
Three Wide Area Network canvases exhibited for a month from 12th January 2010 in one of the vacant shop units in Sheffield's proposed Sevenstone retail quarter, as part of the Sheffield Showcase program. The project aimed to display arts, crafts and fashion by Sheffield creative businesses, in themed window-displays created by retail students.

2009: Go to the 'Networks' book page
1. Fine Art Photography book Networks released November 9th 2009. Published by Heavy Everywhere�, the book features 92 color plates of recent work, and a lengthy introduction on digital exposure and manipulation techniques, including HDR and image-fusion.

2. Presented a workshop on digital spherical photography in conjunction with Spheron VR, at The Workstation, Sheffield, as part of Digital Week, November 2009. The workshop included full demos, explanations and hands-on experience with the SpheroCam HDR panoramic camera.Go to the 'Blank Screen Syndrome' page

3. Major exhibition of old and new work: Blank Screen Syndrome at The Workstation, Sheffield, July 23rd - August 28th, 2009. Features album-cover CGI work, Wide Area Network panoramic photos, and selections from the Heavy Everywhere� fractal art and design range. Also gave a lecture on career to date, and techniques used to create the artwork.

4. Retrospective exhibition of album cover work and other CG images: Blue Sky Thinking, at The Forum, Sheffield, April 19th - May 10th 2009. The exhibition is also included in the programme for Sensoria Festival, which runs from April 24th-29th 2009.


Go to 'The Beat Is The Law' image5. Art print image created for Eve Wood's film on Sheffield music The Beat Is The Law. The image features a fictitious cutting lathe for inscribing musical data onto millstones.

2008: 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Raconteur' Frog and Snail image shown at The Forum, Sheffield as part of the Christmas art exhibition.

2006:
1. Joint Exhibition Imagine at The Chartreuse de Valbonne, Provence, France, with Fred de Fred of Go to the 'Imagine' websiteThe Lovers. Featuring large-scale fractal fabric pieces, 3D computer-generated images on glass, and video/animation with environmental musical installations. My CG image on glass, 'Oui et Non' was also selected for the Brazil render gallery.

2. Phil Wolstenholme's Warp artwork featured in a whole chapter of Rob Young's book Warp Unlimited.

2005: Major feature on Warp Records design style and album covers in the Japanese design bible, Idea Magazine. Features superb reproductions of all Phil Wolstenholme's Warp artwork.

1996: 3 large-format computer prints shown at ‘LoveBytes’ Digital Media Festival, Sheffield.

1995: Commissioned to construct 40-min. video, utilising CG modelling, stills and animation for British composer Gavin Bryars, used in orchestral concert performances of ‘Sinking of the Titanic’, one of Bryars’ most well-known compositions. The video was projected as part of a large themed presentation of the piece in Belgium and Japan during 1995.

1994:
1. Produced and Co-directed (Motion), a 40-min. computer animation/music video for Warp Records. First full-length completely 3D computer-generated music video released by an independent record label. Wired Review. View the video on YouTube.

2. Received Silver Disc for contributions to cover artwork for The Orb album, UFORB.

1992: Album cover design for Warp Records' Pioneers of the Hypnotic Groove published in Roger Dean’s Album Cover Album 6.

1987: Solo Photographic exhibition, Network, at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, which expanded on themes developed during my degree course.

1984-1986: Member of Fabricata Illuminata, a multimedia group, producing video, sound, film and photography as components for live performance works. 

  • As Fabricata Illuminata, performed The Bell Monitor at the Leadmill, Sheffield, March 1985.
  • FI then produced a 40-min piece about the Inner-city riots of the 80’s, This Heat, which was performed live at the Zap Club, Brighton, and the Midland Group, Nottingham, as part of the ‘8 Days of Live Art’ Review Oct. 1985.
  • FI performed Potlatch, our final piece, detailing the incongruities of live art when viewed through a Situationist perspective at the ICA, London, May 1986.
  • Fabricata Illuminata also developed a low-cost binaural (3D) recording system for soundworks, and utilised these techniques in live and recorded pieces. 
    I subsequently produced solo sound-pieces using similar techniques for assessment in final-year degree show.

Business and Employment:

2023 -
Qualified as an IRATA Level Three Rope Access Technician.

2017 - Qualified as an IRATA Level Two Rope Access Technician.

2011: Qualified as an IRATA Level One Rope Access Technician and regularly work on abseiling-related projects including new city constructions, a scheduled monument, a vertical garden, river retaining walls and caves.

2005-present: Founded Heavy Everywhere Ltd. to handle my business, publish my artwork, photography and fractal fabric designs for fashion and other products.
 

1999-2004: Worked for Lightwork Design Ltd., and then offshoot company Kazoo 3D PLC, (which later merged with ZOO Digital Group PLC) in Sheffield, Great Britain, in a variety of roles in the 3D content sector. I worked on the Kazoo software team for three years as 3D Content Supervisor, producing and commissioning a vast library of thousands of 3D models and characters.
I defined standards for modellers, both freelance and in-house, supervised overall model production, and I also built a large proportion of the 3D model library myself. Additionally, I designed and presented demonstrations of �Kazoo� software at
SIGGRAPH, New Orleans in 2000 as part of the International sales team.

I subsequently managed a development team at ZOO Digital Group, producing its successor, Home Creative Studio, a consumer-level software package for image-creation, using 3D models and photographs. This significantly increased the product's capabilities, and in addition to writing the product documentation and localisation, I also designed and produced all the website content, visualisations and tutorials.

1996-99: Worked for Second Nature Industries as part of the 3-man development team of HyperMatter. This was a soft-object dynamics plug-in for the popular 3D animation package 3D Studio MAX�, which won three awards in its first year of sale, including Computer Graphics World’s ‘Product of the Year’.

Responsibilities included alpha and beta-testing of HyperMatter code, production of software demos and tutorials, and company website design and maintenance. Additionally, I provided technical support for users, authorising users and maintaining user databases, and production of promotional material, both image-based and textual.
I also designed and presented demonstrations of HyperMatter on the Kinetix booth at SIGGRAPH, Los Angeles, and Digital Media World, London in 1997, and then again at SIGGRAPH in Orlando, Florida, in 1998. You can see the archived HyperMatter website and demos here: HMWebsite

1992-1994: Part-time lecturer in Computer Graphics, HND Design Diploma, Norton College, Sheffield. Taught basic image creation using Amiga Paint packages, and rudimentary use of 3D software.

1988-Present: Freelance computer artist and photographer. Self-taught.
Produce computer-generated art and video for commercial and not-so-commercial usage.
Produced stills and animated work for many commercial projects, mainly album cover work, poster designs and video. Also produce panoramic landscapes and other photography projects. Proficient on all formats of camera from 35mm to large-format, to a Spheron HDR 360� panoramic camera. Currently specialising in underground photographic projects in caves and lead mines.

Album cover clients include:
The Orb, 808 State, Warp Records, Designers Republic, The Shamen, Sony Music, Frogman Records, Strictly Rhythm, Cabaret Voltaire, Richard H Kirk, The Lovers

1986-1987: Part-time lecturer in Darkroom Practice, HND Design Diploma, Castle College, Sheffield.

1981-1982: Assistant Art Technician, Rotherham Art College. Main responsibility was maintaining the Photography Studio and darkroom. 

Qualifications:

1983-1986: BA (Hons.) Degree in Fine Art (Communications). Sheffield Hallam University.

1982-83:  ‘A’ Levels in Photography and Art. Rotherham College of Arts and Technology.

Other Skills:

Excellent written and communication skills, 3D modelling/lighting/rendering, website design, image manipulation and processing. 

Wide experience of different visual media, including photography - film (incl. large-format) and digital up to 360° panoramic, HDR), video, sound recording (studio and remote, inc. binaural), and non-linear digital editing. 

Exhibition standard printer, darkroom and digital. 

Experience of live performance, software demonstrations and public speaking. Capable (non-qualified) teaching skills in known subjects.

Copyright © 2024 Phil Wolstenholme. All Rights Reserved.