About

Photographer / Filmmaker / Conservationist / Presenter / Communicator

Josh Dury is a Photographer, Filmmaker, Conservationist, Presenter and Communicator with the aspiration to protect the night-sky for future generations.

He aspires to create visual content that inspires and compels his audience to connect with the night-sky.

His passion for Astronomy began at the age of seven-years old, where he was inspired by science-fiction films and programs including: BBC’s The Sky at Night and Stargazing Live. He developed his interest through Photography, which during his education was aspired towards Filmmaking.

This later inspired him to travel the world to witness celestial events, including: Solar and Lunar Eclipses (2015 & 2017), The Northern Lights (2017) and the darkest skies in the world from The Atacama Desert in Chile (2019).

For his final university project at Bristol UWE, he became more aware of the impacts of light pollution on the natural world. This is when he produced and directed the short film, "Back to the Light" (2019) (click here) - to raise public awareness of its impact to astronomers, wildlife conservation and human health. This allowed him to work in collaboration with local dark-sky organisations, including, Commission for Dark Skies (CfDS), The Starlit Skies Alliance and Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). In July 2019, Josh graduated with First-Class Honours.

In December (2019), he became aware of a new threat to the night-sky in the form of satellite constellations. It was his concern for the launch and vast number of satellites, which would eventually outnumber the amount of visible stars in the night-sky within the next five-years. This is when he produced his short film, “Starlink - A Battle for the Skies" (2020) (click here). This formed a collaboration with the international astronomy community, including: BBC Sky at Night Presenter, Pete Lawrence, Astrophotographer, Alyn Wallace and international astronomers.

In 2020, he developed an aspiration towards becoming a Night-Sky Conservationist. He is now an official Delegate of the International Dark Skies Association representing Bristol and South-West England.

He recently setup his own astronomy organisation, called Space4All - to encourage practical astronomy and engage members from all backgrounds. The objectives of the organisation - to engage and inspire more of us to look up at the night-sky to recognise the importance of protecting to feel compelled to protect it.

He has previous experience within the Film and Television Industry in both Science and Natural History Productions. Previous experience includes major production houses and festivals include Films @59 and The Wildscreen Festival.

He previously a Production Runner on BBC’s The Sky at Night at Television Centre in London. He worked on series 798 for X4 episodes with x4 Production Runner broadcast credits.

In February (2020), Josh collaborated with Wildlife Conservationist, Mya-Rose Craig (Birdgirl) to produce a short promotional film to highlight her work in wildlife conservation. The film as later showcased at her Honorary Doctorate Celebrations in Bristol.

Josh's aspirations have furthered him to collaborate and photograph protected UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Stonehenge - conserved for by English Heritage.

Josh had also been shortlisted for Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year at The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London (2017) for his image: "Glastonbury Tor and The Double Flash". (Please see link here).

Links to recent work can be found in both the 'Showreel' and 'Portfolios' links above.