Jess Holdengarde (b.1991) is a South African lens-based artist, living on the Isle of Lewis with their studio based in Glasgow. Their work examines photography’s role in responding to environmental, social, and structural crises, focusing on how image-making can inspire critical reflection and hopeful action within the polycrisis.
Through experimental darkroom techniques, site-specific approaches, and embodied practice, they integrate sustainable methods across photography, writing, sound, and moving image. Their practice often unfolds through collective and collaborative methods, creating spaces for shared knowledge, experimentation, and dialogue.
Holdengarde has exhibited internationally in Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, and the UK. In 2024, they were the recipient of the Verzasca Foto Artist-in-Residence programme in Switzerland and presented their first major solo exhibition at Stills Centre for Photography in Edinburgh. They were Stirling University’s selected Artist-in-Residence for 2025/26, where they received a commisison with climate innovation and policy project FORTH2O and Hydro Nation Chair, followed by a exhibition in Switzerland with Verzasca Foto in summer 2026 and a new solo exhibition, CONTACT, which is currently on view at The Pathfoot Gallery at The University of Stirling until August 2027.
image by Lucy Skaer, South Lochs, Isle of Lewis, 2025
EDUCATION
2021 — Master of Fine Art, The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
2016 — Bachelor of Fine Art in Photography, Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026–2027 — CONTACT, Stirling University Art Collection, Pathfoot Building, University of Stirling, Scotland (Supported by Stills Centre for Photography, FORTH2O and the University of Stirling)
2024–2025 — GLIMMER, Stills Centre for Photography, Edinburgh, UK (Supported by Creative Scotland, Swiss Embassy UK, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust and Verzasca Foto)
2022 — Urban Entanglements, Ilali Studio, Berlin, Germany (Supported by Ilali Studio and Creative Scotland)
DUO EXHIBITIONS
2026 — Soft Linings, with Massimilliano Roseeto, Casa Azul, Verzasca Foto, Switzerland
2024 — Across the Landscape, in collaboration with Melanie King, The Margate School of Art, Margate, UK (Supported by Creative Scotland)
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 — The 195th RSA Annual Exhibition, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, UK (Online)
2021 — Hot Wheels, GSA MFA Showcase, The Glue Factory, Glasgow, UK
2021 — In Process, an exhibition by Fix Photography Collective and GSA, The Glasgow Art Club, Glasgow, UK
2019 — Emphatic Whispers, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2019 — Someone You Love Has an Abortion Story to Tell, Constitution Hill, Women’s Jail, Johannesburg, South Africa
2018 — Close Encounters, Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 — Meditative Moments, Group Show, Gallery One11, Cape Town, South Africa
2018 — Summer Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 — Out of Nowhere, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 — Redemptive Beauty, Eclectica Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 — Orms Staff Show, CTSP, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 — Re (union), Art.b Gallery, Bellville, South Africa
2017 — Salad, Summer Group Show, SMITH Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 — In Bed with Series/Friends, performance with Dr Alexandra Ross, World Art Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 — Orms Staff Show, CTSP, Cape Town, South Africa
2016 — By Way of Hand, CTSP, Cape Town, South Africa
2015 — LunchBox, The Eye Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2014 — Where the Wild Things Are, curated by Nina Liebenberg, Michaelis Upper Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2013 — Rhodes Student Exhibition, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa
ART FAIRS
2018 — Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with SMITH Gallery, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa
COMMISSIONS
2026–2027 — FORTH2O, Research and Climate Policy Innovation, University of Stirling (Mentored by Lux Scotland and supported by the University of Stirling)
2026 — The Living Camera – A Collective Apparatus, Hospitalfield, Arbroath, Scotland
2025 — The Living Camera, Lyth Arts Centre, Caithness, UK (Supported by National Lottery Young Start Fund)
2022 — Figurative Alchemy, Bristol, UK (Private collector)
RESIDENCIES
2025–2026 — Artist in Residence, Stirling University Art Collection, Stirling, Scotland
2025 — Hospitalfield Interdisciplinary Residency, Arbroath, Scotland (Supported by Hope Scott Trust)
2024 — Verzasca Foto Artist in Residence, Verzasca Valley, Switzerland (Supported by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust)
2023 — Island Darkroom Residency, Isle of Lewis, UK (Supported by Island Darkroom and Creative Scotland)
2022 — Ecologies of Perception, Research and Development Residency, Ilali Studio, Berlin, Germany (Supported by Ilali Studio and Creative Scotland)
2018 — Warren Editions, Printmedia Internship, Cape Town, South Africa
2017 — Berlin Art Institute, Berlin, Germany
FESTIVALS
2026 — Stirling Photography Festival, Stirling, Scotland
2026 — Screen Argyll, Sea Change Festival, Tiree, Scotland
2024 — Verzasca Foto Festival, Ticino, Switzerland
PUBLICATIONS
2022 — ISM Magazine, 4th edition, artist interview and commissioned cover, Glasgow, UK
2021 — a holding place, collaborative publication with Glasgow-based artist Lydia Davies, Glasgow, UK
2021 — June, GSA MFA publication, collaborative publication, Glasgow, UK
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
University of Stirling Art Collection, Stirling, Scotland — Two photographic works from CONTACT acquired. Collection of National Significance, recognised by Museums Galleries Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government (2026).
GUEST LECTURES AND TEACHING
Glasgow School of Art, Photography Department
Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town
Cape Town School of Photography, Orms Photography