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Subcribe to comment rss feedRecording from the 2014 Meeting of Minds Conference
The Simple Joy of Seeing
Although he has his own gallery and has been exhibited widely,
books are the heart of Joe Cornish's photographic output. First
Light, a Landscape Photographers Art, is one of the best-loved
landscape photography books of the modern era. He wrote and
photographed Scotland's Coast, and the critically acclaimed
Scotland's Mountains. He has had a DVD (With Landscape in
Mind) and a book (Joe Cornish, a Photographer at Work) made
about him.
A reluctant convert to digital imaging, Joe now works with many
different digital systems including medium format and technical
cameras. He co-leads workshops with David Ward, Antony
Spencer and Mark Banks; as well as field work he specialises at
in-depth critiquing on aesthetic and technical matters. He makes
almost all the prints showed and sold at his Northallerton gallery,
the experience that is invaluable in the workshop environment. His
written work frequently appears in the online photography magazine,
On landscape, (of which he is a co-founder) and he is
an experienced public speaker who has hosted the Natural History
Museum's Understanding Photography evenings since 2011.
Joe is part of the elite group, The world's 40 most influential
Nature Photographers, listed by Outdoor Photography magazine in
2010, and he has appeared on television as a presenter and
Photographic expert. He has been a judge on Wildlife
Photographer of the Year and is an Honorary Fellow of the RPS and
one of the RPS distinctions panels adjudicators.
The Unseen Photographer
It is Joe's hope that he does not 'appear' in his photographs; essentially, the subject matter should do the talking. That is an aspiration of sorts to be invisible. The other motivation is to show and share some unseen work that is essentially personal. This work goes back a long way into by archive since he has been making such images since he first picked up a camera. They are mostly intimate details from nature and are simple observations of form, light, colour and texture. They may reference painting, sculpture, architecture or music, or there may be glimpses of human and animal forms; but for the most part his motive is the simple joy of being outside, and seeing.