Endframe: Coast People (1 of a series & book), by Ian Forsyth

Rob Knight

I am an outdoor / landscape photographer, photographic and creative educator, accredited Adobe Education Trainer, speaker and mentor. I specialises in exploring the landscape including, importantly, human interaction with and shaping of the landscape to explore visual storytelling. I find great inspiration from working in projects both short and long term.

I have always been passionate about black and white photography but also explore colour when it suits the image or project. I love to explore themes and personal interpretations / notions of self, place, space and journeys within the landscape which is very much an experiential response to my education as a Geographer.

rkphotographic.com

Landscape photography in its many guises and forms is a driving passion for so many of us, leading us out into the wilds of our country and wider to capture the essence of the landscape in our creative minds eye. One thing for me, that is vitally important, and serves as a deep seated inspiration since my days studying Geography at University, is the role and central place within our notion of ‘landscape’ of us as humans.

For me the power, the beauty, the majesty and the interaction we have with the landscape is shaped and defined not only by the purity of nature but also by the perceptions and experiences we have. In essence our relationship and perception with the landscape is a dual and reciprocal one…….. we are both shaped by and shape our landscape and our view of it. This is something I explore deeper in my ‘The Experiential Landscape’ discussion that I presented on the Outdoor Photography stage at this year’s Patchings Art Festival in Nottinghamshire.

Visual story telling is something which is a massively important part of photography, our ability to convey a series of moods, feelings and emotions which are often more than just a mere sum of the visual parts of an image requires the photographer and artist to explore their personal connection to their subject intimately. This is evident when we look at the work of photographers such as Colin Bell and Mark Littlejohn, for example, who have a deep connection and experience of their localities of favour and this shines through in their images which are rich with emotion and connection.

In choosing the image I wanted to explore for this End Frame the above principles were key in my thoughts, and whilst it would have been easy to choose any number of works created by both Colin and Mark. The actual piece of work I have chosen is by a north east photographer, Ian Forsyth, from his longitudinal study ‘Coast People’. In the six-year project Ian explores not only a region he has a connection to through where he lives but also the people who make the coastal region, the people who share experiences and struggles, the coastal landscapes that are defined and inhabited by these people.