The title for this body of work, ‘to pass and repass along the way,’ which refers to the ‘rights of access’ and the perpetual motion of traversing a constantly changing landscape. I would have preferred the title to be “freedom to roam” and have open and unfettered access to the landscape, but that is not the case as I am usually restricted to public rights of way on footpaths, bridleways, byways, or being confined by permissive access. The romantic notions of common land and freedom to roam through the English landscape are now sadly outdated; previous enclosure acts and private ownership have long since vanquished such yearnings. Now, 1% own 50% of the land, and they only allow us to pass through slivers in the landscape in which we are not allowed to inhabit or linger for long, as that might be deemed loitering.
This body of work originally started as small, self-contained projects. However, over time, this project approach soon became redundant as I gravitated towards a more non-linear and open-ended photographic journey through the landscape. I became more interested in creating a carefree visual diary capturing time experienced over decades, moving away from the more self-contained conceptual projects and visual narratives.
The photographs are presented in a series of volumes that have resulted from the process of bookmaking. I prefer my ‘photo’ books to have no more than four-folded pages; this is partly due to my basic book-making skills, but having a limited number of pages also allows the viewer to slow down and hopefully enjoy a carefully edited and sequenced series of images.
These photographs were taken in public spaces accessible to everyone. They capture our ever-changing landscapes viewed from riverbanks, roadside, and footpaths. The hope is that the resulting images reveal our complex relationship to the landscape, a relationship that can be abusive, destructive, and careless but also one of awe, wonder, and delight.
The majority of these photographs were shot with an 8x10 film camera, which encourages a different approach to photography compared to that of a handheld camera. The large format camera demands a slower, more methodical approach due to its manual and complex setup and operation.
Using an 8x10 large format camera for landscape photography is physically demanding. The camera and the accompanying equipment are heavy, and reaching your location can be difficult and exhausting. Large format photography can also be very expensive, requiring specialist film stock, chemistry, and scanning. These complexities and costs make you think carefully before taking a photograph. Once set up, using a large format camera becomes a performative and immersive experience; you see the world upside down, it changes your perception of things, and makes you see things anew and more intently.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve been using a digital medium format camera. Age is catching up, and sometimes the thought of a two-mile walk with a large format camera in winter is less appealing than what it was when I first started photography. However, the experience of using a large format camera has changed how I understand the medium of photography and perceive and interact with the landscape; it has slowed me down and made me look harder.
The work I have made is varied, but there has been a constant in that I keep on finding myself drawn to humble and unassuming places that, for me, seem to convey something lyrical, nuanced, and, dare I say, poetic. I want to imbue the places I have visited and experienced with reverence and create visual wonder in something often overlooked or disregarded. Sometimes my work leans towards the pastoral; I once rejected images that evoked this kind of visual sensibility, fixated on achieving some kind of objective realism in my photography. However, I soon realised this was madness and folly, as this approach only offered a one-dimensional fabrication of reality, and instead I embraced the medium of photography that delighted in the illusionary and fictional.
This work presented lacks a traditional conclusion or narrative beyond the photography of things and places. It’s an open-ended photographic journey through the landscape, gradually expanding into more volumes until I grow bored. Until then, I will continue to pass and repass along the way.