The Severn Estuary has the second highest tidal range in the world. Last Wednesday and Thursday were the perigean tides for the autumn – meaning that point in the year (another in the spring) when the greatest difference can be observed due to the moon’s closeness to the earth. In this case, nearly 14 metres […]
Tidal timing and razor reflections Read More »
The most pressing issue in the photography of place is a site’s history, how it has been affected by time, by climate and by mankind. Landscape photography has become political, not necessarily in terms of environmental causes – although many photographers are directly concerned with such issues – but in terms of the meanings it
What’s in it for the landscape photographer? Read More »
The beauty of the place was infinite and heartbreaking. Emerson, in love with the landscape, overlooked nothing, from winter’s mists to summer’s fullness. Yet such opulence was beyond the scope of photography and, eventually realizing this, Emerson had to content himself with exquisite miniature pictures of frozen earth, mists and far horizons – winter landscape,
Emerson and the beauty of ‘Marsh Leaves’ Read More »
Muybridge: a 19th century, postmodern photographer. Comparing his work to that of his contemporary Carleton E. Watkins, Rebecca Solnit (with acknowledgement to Mark Klett’s remarks about the ‘composed’ modernism of Watkins’ photographs) writes: Muybridge, even when photographing almost exactly the same subjects, could not be more different. In his sensibility, the world is all but
Eadweard Muybridge reflections Read More »
NOTEBOOK SPOTLIGHT: 6 Days of Uncreation The text that follows is an edited version of a presentation of my first year’s doctoral research, in which I discussed my photographic series 6 Days of Uncreation. This series of composite photography builds a fracturing picture of global habitats, earth as humankind has found and used it. It
A fractured natural theology Read More »
Just started reading Martin Palmer’s ‘The Sacred History of Britain’ – soon to launch his ‘Sacred Land’ book at St Stephen’s Church next week. The landscape around us in terms of geography and man’s design is a relationship characterised by sacred elements – we can’t just read it as a process of urbanisation and technology.
Reflecting on ‘earth’ for spirituality Read More »
From Beate Gütschow’s ‘LS’ series, the text below is from The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago: Beate Gütschow’s exploration as an artist directly probes questions of pictorial representations of reality. As a student in Hamburg and Oslo, she explored verisimilitude initially as a painter and installation artist and eventually became attracted to photography for
I’m on a balancing line with these – a new series of 6 globes, each of a different habitat. Creation is beautiful and good, but also fractured and threatened. I can’t see where the resolution of the image should sit, both in terms of its meaning and its look. What role has sight in this
Habitat series, ‘Forest Globe’ work-in-progress Read More »
During the ascent in the balloon at heights of 500 to 1,000 metres over the ground, we were especially enchanted by the shining, full, lush blaze of colours revealed by the earth below us. Far and wide, the forests appeared as the most gleaming, greenest moss or like glorious green velvet. … But as we
Quote collage from this week’s reading Read More »
Starting point (as commissioned by my brother): A reflection piece, has to be portrait format, incorporating ‘upside-down-ness’ and water’s reflections. This photograph was taken at Monet’s waterlily pond at Giverny, in 2008 on a family holiday. The day was sunny with a few clouds, my camera was a Nikon D50. We had some fun trying
A Monet tribute – happy birthday Steve! Read More »
