I enjoy taking pictures of the ways in which progress through the land is either helped (paths, holloways, roads, steps, signs and so on) or hindered (gates, fences, walls, checkpoints and so on). History and geography feature high in my approach. In terms of genre, most of my time is occupied in a space between landscape and documentary, but the notion of genre doesn’t really make that much sense to me.

“Path’, Mamiya Six Automat, HP5, Pyrocat-HD, Ilford MG WT

This site is a bit chaotic: my attempts at learning film and darkroom work; thoughts on photography at large and of course, my ramblings with camera and dog. Printmaking has greatly altered my attitude towards photography, particularly Bromoil, Oil and Salt printing.

Increasingly, I turn to my LF camera or pinhole and 19th century printing techniques to get across what I see.

Richard Sennett (‘The Craftsman’) has said that we risk losing ourselves if we forget the learnt skills and craftsmanship that help give meaning to our lives.

My photographic influences are many, so singling out a few is difficult but I find the work of Atget, Walker Evans, Minor White, Raymond Moore and Andrew Sanderson thought-provoking. My biggest influences have been Fay Godwin and Walker Evans.

Hereford Cathedral, © Tony Cearns, Ilford HP5 developed in Pyrocat HD printed on Ilford MGWT, scanned from print.

In my photographic journey I am reminded of a quote by Marcel Proust:

‘A voyage of discovery is not seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes’ … ‘sideways eyes’.

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