The aim of this project was to produce a group of monochrome prints to hang beside etchings bought by my Grandparents in the early 19th century. These pictures have always been part of my life.
Inspired by the etchings, Victorian photography and traditional darkroom techniques, I have selected images which combine my interest in landscape, local history, architecture and design, using photographs taken during the last few years.
They explore the relationship between wild landscape and Man’s impact on it, the contrast of enduring monuments and forgotten spaces, and show a futuristic interpretation of old and new structures.
I find beauty and interest in small details and neglected places as well as in the grandeur of nature. The photographs record a moment in the evolving lives of these places, whether in decay or regeneration.
An important part of the project was to develop the images, using modern digital methods, in a way appropriate to each subject; emphasising details and changing mood, to complement the original etchings.
I have arranged the prints in 5 sections, as they were made, from ancient to modern.
1 Landscapes: mountains and trees.
2 Monuments of time and place. 3 Forgotten spaces.
4 Architectural shapes and lines 5 A modern view of old and new.
The Hanging Plan shows the grouping of the prints as originally conceived, but, as seen from the “walls” plan, the project has an on-going element. I occasionally rearrange the images, finding new relationships between them, and so they provide farther interest and discovery.
