When I get out into the countryside, I see Englishness all around me now. It was always there, of course. It was always what made me feel at home in this land. And now I know it’s where I want to be. To not be alienated within, and by, the concrete soulless suburbia of towns.
More and more, I yearn to get out into the hills and fields, and to walk along rivers. Wherever you go, in Dorset, there are little old churches like these. Though I have had some beef with The Church in the past, I do adore little rural churches. It is a special treasure to find one that is lovingly kept and feels alive inside.
This one is the church of St. Nicholas in Studland.
{I could not explain to you right now what a wonderful place Studland is. It has a wild 7 mile beach, banked with sand dunes and heath along the eastern shores, and steep, rocky cliffs to the west}
G and I sat there yesterday, at a little shack next to the sand called “Joe’s Cafe”, trying to drink our mugs of organic vegetable soup whilst plagued by the late August wasps that seem drawn to my fear and my hair.
As is true of late, I was mesmerized by the sky. English Sky. Grey and dense, with rumbling, rolling clouds. And then, rare streaks of blue when the heavy curtains are parted slightly.
The problem with these grumbling English skies is that they very often come out on film (digital) as pale areas of white. I suppose the clouds diffuse the light, and the camera doesn’t pick up their true colour and depth.
But my pictures seem to be stretching back to a greater perspective that reveals more and more sky. And I want you to see it, to feel what it’s like, when you look at these pictures.
So, I think I have hit on one solution (other than the obvious favourite of buying an 8×10 view camera and working with collodion and silver nitrate!); the result of which you will see in these two pictures here today.
Do you like it?
Can you feel the skies?
~
“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”
Ansell Adams
~
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t know if its just that I love old English things, or that I love your photography in particular, but these photographs made my stomach go all wobbly when I first saw them. (Er, good wobbly.)
I think the sky in your first photograph (which is my favourite) is good because its about the same colour as the fence, so it is beautifully balanced. Such a lovely image. I know the problem you have though, because I have the same one here with our current winter skies. I’m forever upping contrast, downing highlights, trying to get the sky to look how it did in real life – without disrupting the rest of the image.
Blush… Sigh. Thank you so much. ‘Good wobbly’ is my highest accolade so far, I think.
I love your latest Sky series that you’ve added to Flickr. My next challenge is to work out how to capture the moodiness of night skies, a bit like yours.
Have a lovely week – weird to think your Sunday is already nearly over.
I can see these skies moving … especially in the first … I don’t know how you did it … but I feel as though I’m in them, if this makes any sense!
How wonderful that you’ve discovered the English countryside and know now that is your idea, your myth of Englishness. I’m so very happy for you … and I’m very curious to see how this affects your already absolutely stunning photography.
Thanks, Juliana.
Much love.
Definitely makes me want to visit.
Gorgeous shots!
Thanks, Lisa.