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Subcribe to comment rss feedAn Exhibition of Landscape Photography at Southwell Minster, UK
Tim Parkin
Amateur Photographer who plays with big cameras and film when in between digital photographs.
In 2009 Pete Bridgwood put on an exhibition at Southwell Minster which showcased the work of a Master photographer as well as a few of his colleagues work. The first Master was Charlie Waite with a supporting role by Amateur Photographer editor Damien Demolder.
Alongside Pete Bridwood's work was that of Dav Thomas, Mark Gould, Chris Upton and Jonathan Horrocks. The exhibition and location were a great success and two years later Pete organised a repeat, this time with David Noton as the masters with Chris Friel, Damien Demolder and Steve Watkins, the editor of Outdoor Photography, as supporting cast as well as Pete Bridgwood, Dav Thomas etc. We covered that exhibition in issue 20 (doesn't time fly) which you can read here.
2013 sees the return of the exhibition with On Landscape co-proprietor Joe Cornish as the Master and with David Baker, Antony Spencer and Steve Watkins having a 'supporting role' (mini-masters I suppose). As usual Pete Bridgwood, Dav Thomas, Mark Gould, Chris Upton and Jonathan Horrocks are also exhibiting.
As we've mentioned previously, Southwell Minster is a stunning location for an exhibition and would repay visiting even if the exhibition wasn't there. The space is light and airy, the architecture is has an earthy simplicity of beauty that is more relaxing than one would expect and the staff have created an atmosphere that is accepting and friendly - this is far from the sacrosanct way many religious spaces are expected to be treated.
The exhibition itself occupies the nave for the majority of the exhibitors and the North transept for the Master. Each photographer gets four boards to exhibit there work and they average between two and four large images per board so perhaps 8-16 images but a few photographers have added panels with many smaller images. Joe's section has eight boards which make up about 20 images.
It's great to see a selection of new images from Joe which and although some of these have been seen before they have been at small exhibits and so for most visitors this will be unseen work. These include many photographs from his trips to Ladakh, South Africa, Antarctica and Svalbard but also a few from closer to home including the Yorkshire Dales and Scotland.
David Baker made a decision to display a project based set of works - or should we say two projects. His Ridge Trees project has been very successful, showcasing a group of trees that he regularly passed on to his beloved coastline. However for me it's his "Sea Fever" images of bold coloured tumultuous seas and blustering skies are in sharp contrast to the monotone big stopper diluted images we see so often see. We've just heard that Triplekite, Dav Thomas' publisher, is producing a book of David Bakers "Sea Fever" images which you can pre-order here.
Antony Spencer's images show a range of different locations and styles from his personal trips and some from workshops he has given in association with Light and Land or with David Clapp. The highlight images for me are a couple of Iceland photographs - a stunning photograph of Kirkjufell and one of a bleak waterfall which you can see in the interview with Antony elsewhere in this issue.
Steve Watkins' images are drawn from a career as a travel photographer illustrating some of the classic locations on the planet from glaciers and ice fields to deserts and canyons. Steve will admit to not aspiring to fine art but the photographs show a eye for the right picture for the job that is admirable and when he's taking his own work, such as the Dinorwig picture included with his interview he shows why he deserves to sit alongside his companions at the show.
Dav's photography in my opinion has probably developed the most over the last four years and this years set of pictures are taken from his recent book "With Trees" and they form a wonderfully cohesive set. As Antony mentions in his interview, I think Dav should definitely be classed as an honorary Master now.
Pete Bridgwood is showing a range of images from small, contrasty black and white street scenes, Ansel Adams'esque landscapes, contemplative beach scenes. His ability to understand these range of styles is admirable and his recent project emulating the greats of photography and art - of which the Ansel Adams style image is one - should be interesting to follow.
Chris Upton's work has a strong travel photography bent and his best work is definitely the Santorini image which is a tour-de-force of composition and light - one of my favourites of the exhibition.
Mark Gould's work combines travel photography from the American mid-west through British landscapes from the Peak District and Scotland and he has also included a range of Hipstamatic images in small frames that are a refreshing change of pace for the exhibition.
Jonathan Horrocks work ranges from black and whites to a range of contemplative blue tones landscapes of which we have included a couple of the coastal photographs with his interview.
The exhibition is to be applauded for showcasing some great British photography and we look forward to seeing it develop further in two years time.
We've included a short 2 minute video of the exhibition below with a brief introduction by Pete Bridgwood. The exhibition continues until the end of August and you can find out more information at www.mastersofvision.co.uk.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/5aPpKnwYWGQ[/youtube]
UPDATE: It was mentioned in the comments that some of the lighting was problematical and I would agree. It's tough to get good image lighting and in many ways it needs to be custom to the images shown but it's definitely one area where the exhibition could be improved.