2016 Episode 2 – A Year of Downs and Ups
To counterbalance my earlier blog of Ups and Downs which was very much an exercise in self indulgence and back-slapping (I’m a contortionist, didn’t you know?), I’ve also put together a list of images by other photographers that made me stop and take notice in 2016. Why Downs and Ups? These images both depress me for how good they are and inspire me in equal measure.
These are images that stick in my mind and are typically more than just a point and shoot exercise that I see so much of every day, you know, great light and not much else. Alternatively they may be ICM images that have really captured my imagination or even just the most beautiful of abstracts. Either way, they stand out, at least to me. For the most part, I wish I had taken them, or at least was capable of taking them.
So, in no particular order:
Roj Whitelock – ‘Force of Nature’
WexMondays is a curious beast. It’s a competition which I don’t really agree with. Some see it as a bit of fun, and it is, but it is also a promotion exercise for the retailer. I understand that, there is nothing wrong with it. Doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. As such I don’t go out of my way to promote it and that includes liking and re-tweeting entries week in week out. Of course, that also means I see plenty of images on my Twitter feed that I think are great, but my own (ethical or moral?) position means I can’t engage on them. When something really stands out to me, like this image by Roj or the next by Tony, then I’ll contact the photographer directly and privately to provide some feedback or simply gush at how great I think their image is. I was amazed Roj’s delicate but simple image of a shell and an incoming wave catching the golden light didn’t win the week it was entered. Outrageous.
Tony Sellen – ‘Equaliser’
Tony joined me on one of my workshops back in November, I guess just to experience a new type of shooting environment because he already clearly knew what he was doing with his camera. Known mostly for long exposure black and white photography, this image epitomises Tony’s style. It blew me away when he posted it late in December. Almost ruined my Christmas, I was that jealous.
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‘Overlooking Castle Crag’ – Joe White
Joe is very much ‘one to watch’ in 2017 in my very honest opinion. This image of a tree in the wind overlooking Castle Crag is not Joe’s usual style. It was his panorama’s that first caught my eye and are amongst the best out there. However, it was this image from the Lake District that really stopped me in my tracks. Beautiful light, fabulous composition of what is a very complex scene and some good processing (though I do think the top is maybe a little bit overcooked), combine to deliver a breathtaking shot.
‘Forgotten’ – Karl Mortimer
Ok, hands up, I’ve got to know Karl very well over the last year and we have met up several times for trips to North Yorkshire, the Lake District and Snowdonia, amongst others. It’s therefore no surprise that I’ve also become quite familiar with his work over that time. Karl isn’t your typical conventional landscape photographer, at least he is trying very hard not to be (he can turn out a conventional landscape as well as anyone if he needs to). I think by his own admission, he continues to try to learn from the very best there is, having joined workshops with David Ward, Joe Cornish, Eddie Ephraums, Paul Wakefield and John Blakemore in the last 12 months alone. However, that learning process is helping him to develop into his own photographer, one that doesn’t follow the rules, so to speak. Which is all very interesting considering this image, taken on a ‘colour’ workshop, won Judge’s Choice (Jasmine Teer) in this years Landscape Photographer of the Year.
ICM over Loch Morlich – Doug Chinnery
Doug is full of surprises. If he’s not pushing out incredibly vivid still life, he’s writing articles about clouds, shooting abstracts with a smartphone, or in this case, creating beautifully evocative ICM images of my favourite subject. He may not readily shoot mountains from their peaks but here it doesn’t matter. ICM Mountain photography is something I’ve thought about dabbling with for a very long time, and if I do, I don’t think I’ll be sharing any unless it is of a similar standard to this. Sublime.
‘The Spokesman’ – Mark Littlejohn
Mark needs very little, if no introduction. Over the last 12 months he’s really become ‘tree man’ if he isn’t taking photos of his two lovable rogues, Barney and Red (Boxer puppies). After the sudden loss of his long term four legged pal, Harvey, earlier in the year and the arrival of the new pups, I think the change that this forced on Mark though very sad at it’s root (no pun intended) was a good one in terms of him being able to concentrate, albeit passively at times, on a single subject. I’m looking forward in 2017 to his pledge to head into the hills more, but for me, in a year when I took a bit of a ribbing about trees on Twitter, the fact that 5 out of these 10 images include trees, says something about how evocative a subject matter they can be. It is this image though, that really stands out in my mind in a conventional landscape sense (well, conventional as far as the subject matter anyway). The hoare frost is to die for.
Vestrahorn – David Ward
2016 included a critical turning point for me. For quite a while in 2014 and 2015 I was unhappy with the type of images I was making, essentially grand vistas. Don’t get me wrong, I love a grand vista like most folks do, however they tend to lack a vital element. For want of a better term, they lack ‘connection with the landscape’. This is something that I don’t think anyone, anywhere, has mastered as well as David Ward. I’ve been a great admirer of David’s work for several years and although I had already started the transition process to shooting almost exclusively in portrait, it was on seeing this image, from David back at the start of the year, that solidified that determination. Vestrahorn is fast becoming the most photographed mountain (if you can call it that) in Iceland, but by and large, all images tend to be very similar. This was the first time I’d seen an interpretation in this manner. I’ve not seen anything better since.
Untitled Image – Claire Zaffin
Claire Zaffin (McConnell and/or Norman, depending on the day and which country she is currently ‘activated’ in…) is a relative newcomer to photography and although she prefers to shoot ‘street’, she can turn her hand to a fine landscape. As with any photographer who is learning the craft, myself included, she still has things to learn, but this image, that was shortlisted in Outdoor Photographer of the Year, really grabbed me like few others did during the year. I don’t know if it’s the subtle combination of Landscape and Wildlife genres that I love or something else, but what I do know is that it’s an image that instantly springs to mind whenever I see her name appear on my Facebook or Twitter feed.
P.S. She’s not really a spy, she got married on the last day of the year. Congratulations again 😉
‘Where New Worlds Are Born’ (Ephemeral Pools) – Matt Botwood
Many photographers can shoot a cohesive project. Few photographers can shoot a cohesive project that consistently delivers the goods. Fewer photographers still, can shoot a cohesive project that consistently delivers the goods and constantly evolves at the same time. There is only one photographer I know that can do all of the above and still blow my mind (and my quite warped imagination) with images like this. Matt Botwood.
It would be unfair for me to isolate a single image from Matt’s Ephemeral Pools project, or even a series of images from that project. However, life isn’t fair, so I will. Sometime around Autumn, Matt pushed out a small series of images from the project that for all intents and purposes could have been photos of celestial bodies on the other side of our Milky-Way. Mind. Instantly. Blown. Reminder, this is an image taken in Wales.
‘Westwick Woods’ – Matthew Dartford
You’ve seen Predator, right? Remember Blain, that “Sexual Tyrannosaur” played by Jesse Venturer…the dude with the big Gatling Gun that can flatten a forest in under a minute? Well, that isn’t Matt, sadly. However, place a camera in Matt’s hands and he uses it like Blain does his big gun. It’s incredible to witness, a real ‘duck and cover’ event. I imagine if you placed Matt on Jokulsarlon beach with the 100 or so other photographers who are bound to also be shooting there, it’d look like the D-Day landing scene in Saving Private Ryan, only Matt in his machine gun nest, sorry, standing behind his tripod, would win. Carnage.
However, there is method in his madness, together with more than an ounce of sheer photographic talent. Matt is yet to really settle into any type of ‘Photographer Mould’. He’s a bit of a jack of all trades in terms of style too. But, boy oh boy, he can produce some gorgeous imagery, including this one, which remains a firm favourite of mine almost 12 months after I first saw it.
So, there you go. Ten very different photographs from ten very different photographers.
It wouldn’t be fair for me to post this without mentioning other photographers who didn’t quite make the list but whose work I have admired over the last year, any one of which is capable of making me stop and look on in astonishment and wonder. I’ve enjoyed images from the likes of Lee Acaster, Neil Burnell, Lizzie Shepherd, Richard Thomas, Russ Barnes, Darren Ciolli-Leach, Jon Gibbs, Carolyne Barber, Scott Robertson, Richard Fox, Andrew Yu, Colin Bell, Pete Hyde, Rachael Talibart, Nick Livesey, Alex Nail, Dylan Nardini, David Queenan, and Chaitanye Deshpande to name but a few.
I look forward to seeing what this year brings from everyone. Have a great 2017 folks!
