english – Page 2 – Season Images

7 more Cathedrals Photographed

Northern England

During Half-Term (20-26 February 2011) Karen and I traveled to northern England to photograph 6 more cathedrals: Ripon, Bradford, York Minster Cathedral, Durham, and Newcastle in the east, and Carlisle in the west. We braved a range of weather with one brief glimpse of the sun. This makes 42 of the 43 English Cathedrals now photographed – I photograph the last English Cathedral on 3 March – Peel Cathedral on the Isle of Man.

Carlisle Cathedral was a challenge as when I arrived I was told that I could not use a tripod. As I shoot at a low ISO value with typical exposures of 20 – 30 seconds, I had to do some creative thinking. Carlisle is the only cathedral out of the 43 in England which had this restriction but no doubt for good reason as they said images of the cathedral had been used inappropriately – if I had known this before hand I could probably have made an arrangement.

Wales

We visited St David’s Cathedral in west Wales which is the first Welsh cathedral I have photographed. St David’s is the smallest city in the UK because of the cathedral. There are 6 cathedrals in Wales altogether: St David’s : Llandaff : Bangor : Newport : St Asaph : Brecon. This now makes for a new target – the Cathedrals of England and Wales!

5 More English Cathedrals photographed

I used the period between Christmas and New Year (and the thaw from the recent ice and snow!) to go with Karen (my wife) to the English midlands and photograph a further 5 cathedrals. There are 43 Anglican cathedrals in England and with the recent 5, (Manchester, Liverpool, Wakefield, Blackburn and Sheffield) I have now reached 35.

Manchester Cathedral

We traveled to Manchester first – construction of the church which was the predecessor of the cathedral began in 1215. The church became a cathedral in 1847. It has been through a long history of restoration and reconstruction, it was bombed in World War II and by the IRA in 1996. It is a somewhat brooding building. See the Manchester Cathedral Images here.

Liverpool Cathedral

Liverpool is the largest cathedral in England and the largest Anglican cathedral in the world – it is truly amazing. It is a 20th century cathedral – designed by architect Giles Gilbert Scott, who was 22 years old when he won the commission. Begun in 1904, it was completed in 1978, 18 years after Scott died. The bells of Liverpool Cathedral are the highest and heaviest ringing peal in the world and the organ is the largest in England with 10,268 pipes. The whole experience is one of audacious magnificence at scale! See the Liverpool Cathedral Images here.

Continue reading “5 More English Cathedrals photographed”

Royal Photographic Society Associate Award

It was with some trepidation that I attended the Royal Photographic Society Associateship Assessment Day on 13 October 2010 at the Society’s headquarters in Bath, England. I had entered the required panel of 15 images in the Visual Art category. My panel comprised images from a series I have been working on over the past couple of months – English Cathedrals. After a very interesting look at some awesome presentations by other photographers, of which slightly less than half were awarded the distinction of Associateship, I am pleased to say that my panel was successful and I am now an Associate Member of the Society.

Statement of Intent

The cathedrals of England hold a tension, an irony, being at once places of devotion and contemplation as well as representing wealth and power from a past era. The tension runs right through most elements – a warmth and a coldness, the familiar with the alien, minute detail overshadowed by vast lines and cavernous spaces. My purpose in these images is to explore these tensions. The images represent a small selection from a project to photograph all 43 Anglican cathedrals in England, seeking not to create an architectural record but to capture unique perspectives to be reflected upon over time and which are not initially obvious. All the images have been taken in available light and generally without the presence of people, concentrating on the creation of art out of art – creativity out of the creativity of past eras.

Visit the Season Images collection of English Cathedral images