A Garden Design

During the course of my job, I get asked to photograph a wide variety of subjects, some clearly more exciting than the others, and on Sunday I went back for Pt.II of one such assignment. A peep behind closed gates at a lovely new garden, designed by Sakura Garden Design - all rather exciting.

I had covered Pt.I, the daytime view, a couple of weeks ago on a mild but overcast day. Whilst this spared harsh shadows from the shots, I could have done with the daylight being a little more vibrant. However, this is a garden which comes into it's own at night, where the colours zing, particularly at dusk. The midnight blue sky, the vibrant green bamboo and the warm glow of the cedar pavilion, all stunningly lit up in the chill of the evening (as I found out. Brrr!)

Now I will spare any more adjectives and leave you to enjoy the garden for yourselves.

To discuss ideas for your own photography requirements, please feel free to go to the contact form on my website, and I will get back to you.

Saffron Walden in Uttlesford

Little did we know, back in January 1985 when we moved into the town of Saffron Walden in Essex, that almost thirty years later the area in which it is located would be named as Britain's most desirable rural area to live. Call it good judgement on our part but we have enjoyed living in this beautiful part of a county which, normally conjures up images far from a rural idyll. This is not TOWIE country, this is North Essex, with gently undulating English countryside. It could be argued that being this far north in the county, the area is also influenced by the near neighbours of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, each only a few miles away. In fact the area is so unique, that it is almost its own little county - let's call it the county of Uttlesford. Actually that isn't too far from the truth as Uttlesford is the administrative region for, amongst others, the towns of Saffron Walden, Stansted, Thaxted and Great Dunmow.

Those of you who follow my blog will know that I often post about the delights of this area, and I frequently feel so fortunate to live in such a lovely place. So much so, that both himself and myself have moved our mothers to the town in recent years. They have also grown to love their adoptive home-town, just as we have over the years. I agree that the town doesn't perhaps have quite so much to offer those at the other end of the age scale but it hasn't hindered us in raising our family here.

In celebration of the title, I am airing an image I took early one September morning back in 2011. It was such a glorious golden hour, and with the birds beginning to rise from the trees it was ripe for capture from this aspect, which is seldom covered. Already the image has been steadily circulating on Twitter since the news broke, and so it is inevitable that I should choose to share it again, here on my blog, as the ideal representation of the area I call home.


Now for the business bit!
The image is available to order as a print or greeting cards by putting your request into the contact form at the side of this blog. (Sorry the e-shop isn't quite ready but will be open very soon) Alternatively you can come and see the image for real when it will be in exhibition during the Saffron Walden Open Studios 26th/27th April & 3rd/4th May. Watch out for further details.

Day 24 - August Challenge

Challenge - "Photographic record of an allotment site"

Suggested by - Martyn via Facebook

The forecast for today predicted pants weather. Waterproof 'pants', coat and boots to be more accurate, so when I woke at 07.30 and realised it wasn't currently raining, I grabbed my chance and my gear, and indulgently motored to the other end of town - throwing in a big brolly for good measure.

And I needed it. A humid mist hung over the town as the once, odd few drops of rain became ever more persistent. I tucked the handle of the brolly into my coat pocket, balancing the rest of it on my shoulder and head, in an attempt to free up both hands. Armed with just one lens - leaving the other kit in the dry shelter of the car, I ambled into one of my favourite shooting zones - allotments.

I have photographed these particular allotments on a number of occasions, their backdrop of the town behind them making them even more photogenic. I love the eclectic nature of all that goes with these little oases. I love the tranquillity and I love the colour - the flowers of the traditional allotment plants adding the only splash of sunshine in today's scene.

Where normally it would have been an early morning hive of activity, the rain had stopped play for the gardeners. However, I persisted, to record some of the plants, record the demarcation of the various plots and record the overall environment of the town allotments. However, there is one more record that, if one looks long enough, it will always be found...

The screen grab

My thanks to:

Martyn for the suggestion

Tomorrow, Day 25

"Stirs emotions, and why?"

Turn the Page

'1 - 100' Artistbooks

Last year I toddled off to Norwich for the first 'Turn the Page' artists book fair. An inspirational exhibition for those of us who love book arts.
Today I toddled off to Norwich again for 'Turn the Page' 2013 (hard to believe where that year has gone!)
Accompanied this year by a good friend, with whom I had studied at Post Graduate level at LCC, we were excited to see what was happening in the world of Book Arts, having both digressed back to our respective disciplines of photography and illustration

Mentioning Book Arts to most people, I am usually met with a blank stare. Mention bookbinding, and most will have something similar to this in mind. It goes without saying that all book artists will either have embraced traditional bookbinding within the art or will be aware of the methods which they may have adapted to suit their own needs. For myself, I find hand stitching codex book blocks a wholly satisfying process, as making books is another hat I wear. Very shortly, I will be embarking on a very special hand bound album for a certain newly-wed couple.

Having worked on bespoke albums in the past, I also get equally enthusiastic about the limits to which making books or book arts can be stretched to.

There are those who just can't seem to accept that a book should be anything else than a codex form but book arts encourage exploration, experimentation, fun and enjoyment. This is what I found when I studied at LCC, and now the MA study in Book Arts is available at Camberwell.

At 'Turn the Page' 2013 there was work which on first appearance seemed like a normal book. On closer inspection, it had come about from pages of thoughts which had been written down, torn out and screwed up, a process being repeated today for regenerating into another new book.

'The Wastepaper Project' Joanna Holden

 The books moved from the almost bizarre...

Karen Apps

...to the cute. Here books had been altered (some may view this as sacrilege!) the bunny having fully movable arms and legs, and being made from the cut pages of the selected book.

Other notable work came from Nicola Dale, with her intricately hand cut pages (timelapse). Theresa Easton with her colourful printmaking drawer, and Miranda Campbell who I had first encountered at the Minories in Colchester.

What was clear today is that Book Arts is as exciting as it has always been, with forty artists sharing their passion at Turn the Page 2013.

I look forward to 2014 and maybe I will have something to share then too.





Whilst visiting Norwich, it seemed sense to 'make a day of it' and we dropped into the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts located on the UEA campus.

I hadn't visited this art museum before and I spent the first twenty minutes of my visit taking in the impressive architectural work of Sir Norman Foster. Pre-dating Stansted Airport, another Foster building which I have come to know pretty well due to my regular flying visits to Ireland, the similarities in the construction were clear to see. The Sainsbury Centre has now recieved listed status as an example of high-tech architecture.

By contrast, the space below is filled with an amazing and mostly historical collection amassed by Robert and Lisa Sainsbury.
Henry Moore and Francis Bacon are alongside each other, and here the Little Dancer by Edgar Degas appears to look up in architectual amazement.

This work struck a chord with me. My Wednesday evening yoga sessions are sometimes like this- my mind alerted to dinner by a grumbling empty stomach, rather than concentrating on the beneficial poses!

Finally a piece which has quite an impact on those who see it. Stranded is a six metre long crystal-encrusted skeleton of a minke whale.

"Stranded raises issues of the dramatic changes in the chemistry of the planet’s oceans and brings awareness to the threat of coral reefs and the marine food cycles"

This reminded me that very shortly I will be returning to Ireland, where I am involved with the IWDG and where I hope I will again be fortunate to enjoy the sight of whales, including Minke, Humpback, Fin whales, and maybe even a basking shark or two in the waters around South West Cork.

Still, I will turn the page to that on another day. Today was all about art. Aren't the chapters of life great?!

The Merits of Exhibitions

A room in the Ansel Adams Exhibition at Greenwich

A little while back, I found a slot in my current tight schedule, to make an enjoyable trip up to London for the purpose of taking in some photographic exhibitions.

"Why do you go to exhibitions when you can see it in a book or on the internet?" I get asked

If you have ever visited an exhibition of work, and in particular, work which comes over as outstanding, then you will have half an inkling as to why viewing work in a gallery has merit.
I had already planned to see two exhibitions:
The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize National Portrait Gallery (The final day was imminent)
Ansel Adams Photography from the Mountains to the Sea National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (Until 28th April)
Then I became aware of another must see, prompting a snap decision to go to London.
Lewis Whyld Riots Revisited, Strand Gallery (On for one week only)

All such very different exhibitions both in subject matter and modes of production but all worthy of note.

Each year I endeavour to visit the Photographic Portrait Prize where it is always interesting to observe styles and trends. 2012 broke the trend set in 2010 and 2011 where the winning images sported young red-haired girls associating with animals. Although not the winning image, the exhibition did open this year with a hard looking man with a ginger animal! However, the winning image of an anxious young woman in Boliva had emotions which this time I was comfortable with (unlike the 2010 winner)

The background to each of the portraits was posted on the wall of the gallery, and made enlightening reading for me but only after each image had been contemplated. (A note here to the NPG, it would be lovely to have this information included in the catalogue for all of the images, not just the winning images) It is perhaps important not to read this information prior to viewing as it puts us, the viewing public, into a similar position to the judges, who always select the images on their visual merits alone.

Looking at other trends within the sixty images, the dominance of colour images was once again clear, and there were no trendy angles or jaunty poses, just pure classic positioning. The biographies also revealed that there was a high proportion of UK linked photographers who had been successful in 2012, as was the fact that many were either art school graduates or photographers working in the industry. Equipment varied from high end medium format cameras, through to all levels of pro and semi-pro equipment... except for one. An image by 'photo-interested' Nathan Roberts, taken of tourists at the National Gallery cafe provided a shard of hope that anyone can be successful here. His atmospheric image was taken on a... smart phone.



Moving on to another contemporary exhibition, Riots Revisited was a calmly located airing of a selection of images by Lewis Whyld, taken during the London Riots in 2011.
A photographer for the Press Association and based in London, he was one of the first photojournalists on the scene on the first night and was also there during the days that followed. As the tensions mounted, it was said that Whyld was at times forced to use his mobile phone to record the images for fear of his own safety. Some of his images were subsequently seen the world over and many were published in our own national press.

On entering the peaceful gallery, it wasn't long before the heat of those nights was rekindled. Recalling my own fears from the reports of those unsettled summer nights, the overwhelming red glow of the burning buildings jumped out from the exhibition prints. Silhouetted riot police and hooded youths was a motif often repeated in the imagery, the tensions clearly visible. However, it was one image in particular which made a big impression on me. Against a burning red background, swirling smoke provided the movement in towards the focus of the image; four on-duty police horses.
The most striking feature of the image, a single white horse produced emotions first of compassion then of bravery. His hard work during those awful days was ultimately recognised as Boris the Met Police horse did indeed receive an award for his bravery.

An outstanding set of images from Lewis Whyld, which deserved to be aired for longer than the week they were afforded. However, may they also be a reminder of how close to volatile some situations become and remain thankful that we seldom experience incidents such as this in this country.



Finally, having been suitably refreshed, I set off for a complete change of scene at the Thursday, late night opening of Ansel Adams Photography from the Mountains to the Sea exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. Sadly I misjudged my timing to reach Greenwich and ended up lacking time to do the exhibition justice.

Adams, an American, began his life in photography during the 1920s and went right through into the1970s and beyond. Being noted for his stunning black and white landscape images of places such as Yosemite, his dedication to photographing and then producing the very carefully tonally balanced images, gained him respect. His images were being shown in galleries alongside conventional art, something almost unheard of for photography. Today, his images are considered as fine art, with reproductions of his work regularly appearing, and on countless items, such as calendars and greeting cards.

My first impression was of the almost timeless quality of the images, although landscapes such as these often wouldn't show up the man-made progress of time. However, it was the water and seascapes which drew my attention on this occasion. With many of his images using long exposures, he succeeded in capturing the movement of the water whilst still maintaining an element of crispness. One image in particular illustrates my point. The Atlantic Schoodic Point 1949 was taken after two days of setting up and waiting for exactly the right conditions, such was Adams perfectionism. The long exposure "blurs the water, giving the picture a tender melancholy feel"

Now, I have written before about my personal view on 'milky' water and my dislike of the current popular trend to horrendously 'over-milk' images, so much so, dynamic seascapes are becoming flat to the point of 'why bother'. Adams illustrates beautifully that it is possible to capture the dynamics and the beauty of the action of water, in both this image, and also many of his waterfall images too, without losing sight of what water is. In the short amount of time that I was viewing his work, it made me think carefully and come to one conclusion. It is high time to reconsider how we might view our own images. As true representations of what we see, or of abstract imagery? For me, milky water falls into the latter category and as such, I feel has an imminently finite place in today's true photography. The tides are changing. Without actually harking back to the past let us reconsider the merits of the skills of the old photography masters.


So, the merits of exhibitions? If they are nothing more than thinking space then that is value in itself.
Enjoyment? Now that is valuable.

Colours of the Jubilee

On a chilly June afternoon, a neighbourhood gathered to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

(On a chilly June afternoon, the neighbourhood of my teens had gathered to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee.)

Beautiful May

Why do I love this time of the year so much? Well, when the sun shines, the stunning array of colour, blossoms and insects is just a riot worth joining, and that is exactly what I did this morning.

Waking up to a blanket of mist, there was a feeling of anticipation as I ate breakfast that it would just burn off - and sure enough, it did. Rather than just the usual walk around the park, I took off to one of my favourite local walks in the woods. On the way I passed along the chestnut avenue, the road verges lined with cow parsley (hopefully the council won't come and cut it all back!) Admittedly both the candles and cow parsley were not as big or blousy as I have seen them on previous years, but a stunning sight none the less.

The field where I had watched the hares in the snow earlier in the year, now a blanket of yellow, edged by more cow parsley and punctuated with bushes covered in May blossom. Wheat fields were lush after the generous helping of recent rain, tram-lines still visible and graphically criss-crossing from side to side.

Arriving at the woods, I was able to sit quietly on a log under fresh green leaves, still yet just a light canopy and allowing the sun to gently dapple the last few bluebells left under the trees. Mutt, on her lead and now used to being a photographers assistant, sat quietly beside me as I used her as an extra pair of ears. She would hear any movement from the deer before me but today, not a glimpse. They no doubt were glimpsing me as they protected this years off-spring nestled somewhere in the undergrowth.

Butterflies flitted from flower to flower, the orange tips not sitting still long enough for me to catch a shot, small whites and speckled wood butterflies being more willing subjects.

Slugs, however were still in abundance!

As I sat, listening to the bird song, (the chiff chaff and the chaffinch seemingly shouting the loudest) I thought of what really makes May the best. From beginning to end, it has to be the flowers. Starting with the smaller ground-dwelling flowers such as bluebells, wild garlic, buttercups, cow parsley, and campion, up to the hedgerows and blossoms of chestnut candles, hawthorn, lilac, wisteria and laburnam- to name a few.

Add to that a drop of sunshine, as today - perfect!

“You really have to look”

Looking, Hockney-style

'Flat' from the camera

"You really have to look" was what came over clearly in the BBC Culture Show Special on Hockney, 'The Art of Seeing'

Hockney has an ethos which I subscribe to whole-heartedly - looking. Over the past year, one of the main driving forces behind my posts, has been to bring things... anything, little things, important things to general attention, rather than being overlooked. I can spend hours 'out in the field', looking, observing, watching. It might be people, places, happenings, wildlife, or my favourite thing, light. The latter can add a magic to all of the other elements and without it, many things would either not be seen at all or just be seemingly mundane. It is when things appear mundane, they become overlooked - but they shouldn't be.
Remember recently,
The pile of apples (post)
The sun dog (post)
The red feet (post)
They were all things that were posted because I had been looking. Not everyone might find these posts thrilling or exciting but if just one person spent a little time looking as a result, then it has all been worth it.

I can't admit that I had been seeing colour quite the way Hockney does though, but I will certainly be looking harder from now on. As a photographer, I do seek to portray realism in my images rather than being illustrative, so my interpretation of 'the tunnel' above is in praise of, what can only be described as his colourful work. A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to acquire tickets to his landmark exhibition at the RA. Unfortunately it was unbearably busy which did detract from the enjoyment somewhat but don't be deterred. If you need some colour to cheer you at the end of these Winter months, I can't recommend 'A Bigger Picture' enough.