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Paul Gotts
Paul Gotts is an amateur photographer based on Merseyside. He has helped pull together three collaborative photo books showcasing the work of 18 different photographers. He also makes handmade books whether for himself or others, often for charitable causes.
The images were made over the April to September period in 2017 during which these exposures covered between 15 to 140 days. It was not easy leaving the cameras alone for so long a period and I visited them many times when out pushing the buggy to check they were still in situ over the course of the summer. They all ended up weather beaten, occasionally damp inside so not only ended up showing some of the path of the sun but also a distressed look I became quite attached to.
The images cover two local sites which I visit quite often. The first, St Luke's Churchyard in Crosby, Liverpool covers a large plot of land and requires much grounds maintenance. The oldest graves are around 150 years old, with most of their inscriptions well into a weathering process. The final two images were taken a couple of miles further north in Woodham Knoll, a small wood currently used for pheasant breeding. A large part of the wood comprises six or seven stretches of water which I think are former watering holes. The penultimate peaceful photograph faces south over arable land and looks towards Liverpool. The final image taken by the side of one of the pools looking towards the margin of the wood shows the effect of local storm damage and a reflected part of the sun's path.
The final part of this little project was to take advantage of a bookmaking workshop from Joseph Wright that I attended in November. I have really enjoyed printing out more photographs in the last year and the experience of sequencing and binding them up as books have been incredibly rewarding.
