Hello, I’m Gill and I write a photography blog inspired by the landscapes of Suffolk and beyond. Please subscribe to read more of my writing and visit my website to view my images.
This week I published my first zine. I have produced several self published books over the years but this was my first zine project to come to print and although it wasn’t all my own work it was great fun to collate, edit and publish.
There is nothing quite like holding a printed copy of your work in your hands and it’s always really exciting to see a book or zine project in its finished form.
This zine was produced as part of a series of ‘Capture and Create’ workshops that I ran over the summer. The participants were tasked with creating 6 images from a workshop that showed their personal representation of a place. It was an interesting challenge to undertake on a workshop as everyone was working under constraints of time and weather conditions, but the resulting images are accomplished and diverse and together give a brief insight into one of Suffolk’s most interesting waterways.
My involvement in this project was principally as an initiator, I created the project and then co ordinated the responses and designed and laid out the publication using Adobe Indesign.
I love putting together collaborative projects as part of a workshop. It gives the attendees a focus for their photography and helps them become part of something that they may not have tackled on their own.
I firmly believe that setting yourself a project is one of the best ways to grow as a photographer.
Projects are connected series of work. They can be micro projects taken on a day out with the camera and displayed as a grid of images on social media or they can be larger bodies of work taken over years that are ultimately displayed in a book or exhibition. I have tried options in my work as a photographer and they have always been worthwhile and positive experiences.
Projects allow you to keep your photography local while focusing on ideas or themes that inspire you. They allow you to be curious, explore unremarkable locations and question the things that you see around you.
My first project took a year to photograph back in 2020. It focuses on my connection with a small stretch of the Suffolk Coastline during the Covid pandemic. The area was a place that I walked to every morning with my dog during a time when our movements were restricted and pandemic lockdowns were in force. The project explores the importance of nature in keeping grounded during difficult times and the images portray fleeting moments captured without a tripod or filters The images are accompanied by my written observations and are intended to be viewed as a visual sketchbook of a special place. Out of all the projects I have undertaken this one means the most to me and it is the one I am most proud of.
My second project, Rooted, is one that is still evolving. It started as a panel for a photographic competition but it evolve into a book and is still evolving even after publication. I have long term plans for this body of work but it is something that may take a few more years to fully develop.
My artist statement explains my original thoughts and this is what my published book was built around.
Some wild places have the power to captivate all who visit them, not because they have unequalled views or superior scenery but because they instil in the visitor a sense of wonder and awe. The ‘thicks’ is one of those places.
It’s ancient woodland is a landscape of fairytale qualities where vast oaks stand side by side with some of the tallest holly trees in Britain. This is a forest reminiscent of childhood stories, a chaotic tangle of twisted branches where light is sparse and evergreen curtains of holly hang in the air. Dead and decaying boughs and trunks litter the floor and even on the brightest days the air is cool and the forest dark. For all who enter the ‘Thicks’ mystery abounds and imagination runs wild.
This panel focuses on the fairytale qualities of the forest, its Tolkienesque shapes, the fallen beasts imagined from the deadwood and the compound trees formed from multiple species. The painterly effect and autumn colours show ‘The Thicks’ at its best, a magical place full of mystery but one that is always welcoming and never threatening.
I have been working on this project intermittently for about 4 years. It is a location I never grow tired of and one that I will revisit time and time again.
I have discussed projects before on my Substack and the ideas around sketch book photo walks which I have talked about on my website. These are a great way to explore an area and produce a small body of work that captures a sense of place. I think my Orwell zine falls nicely into this category.
Photo sketching is a little like photo journalling and both can help inspire creativity. I read an interesting blog post this week on the subject of photo journalling by photographer and mixed media artist Susanne Helmert. Interestingly Thomas Heaton also discussed journalling on his You Tube video this week (although he referred to it as writing things down!)
I have practiced photo journaling myself and my ‘Grounded’ project is a good example of how I used this in my finished body of work.
I love the challenge of writing words that compliment a particular photo shoot. I generally write them in the notes app on my phone or in a small notebook that I carry around with me when I am out in the landscape. I then meld my observations into something more lyrical when I get home and study my images.
I have included an example below. The emotions were captured during my photo shoot and the words were written afterwards. Sometimes I feel this combination of writing and photography produces a much more detailed depiction of a landscape and it is a way of working that I particularly enjoy.
It is raining as I step into the wood. Not a deluge but a light drizzle which feels inconsequential but which quickly saturates the ground and turns the bracken a vibrant shade of green. In these conditions the wood feels like a primeval forest, green, vibrant and otherworldly. Huge oaks, contorted with age, stand side by side with some of the tallest holly trees in Britain. Beneath the canopy shoulder high bracken covers much of the ground hiding some of the dead wood that litters the floor. The air is cool and damp and the space beneath the trees is dark and mysterious.
On the edge of a clearing I come across an old oak tree. It is tall with a lopsided stance and a huge girth and is surrounded by other similar oaks. Some shorter, some more sprawling but all ancient and characterful.
I reach out my hand to touch the gnarled trunk as a gentle breeze ruffles the leaves in the canopy sending a delicate cascade of water droplets down towards me. Time seems to stand still. I am present in the moment but am connected to the past by a subliminal force that seems to radiate from deep within the tree.
I run my hand over the tree’s rough exterior. The surface feels hollow, the temperature similar to my own. The bark is dark and wrinkled with an age worn exterior, cracked and torn and covered in cankerous looking swellings which mark the locations of long lost branches. Cobwebs extend across the jagged surface, their gossamer threads strung between the fibrous ridges. Jewelled with water droplets they hold an assortment of flotsam, captured from the wind and held in quivering embraces. Dead and decaying leaves and tiny feathers decorate the webs and add to the feeling of antiquity that surrounds this tree.
I walk slowly around the circumference and notice several large clefts running the length of the trunk, one so wide I can push my hand inside. As I do I sense I am reaching back in time to a landscape and way of life I would not recognise. The feeling of connection is powerful.
If you want to understand yourself and your reasons for making images and what you are drawn to, I would encourage you to journal (or write things down). Even if it just involves noting your emotions or observations when you are out photographing a scene it will help you understand the mood you want to convey in your images when you get back to your computer - it will give you a starting point for your editing process.
Starting a photography project can always feel daunting and sometimes good ideas are difficult to find. If you don’t really know where to start try looking back through your existing catalogue of images. Make a collection of your favourites and look for the themes within this group. Working out what inspires your photography will help you formulate project ideas.
Start by shooting in pairs. Learn to combine images based on subject and aesthetic. Thinking this way when you are in the field is really useful and can help you see your images as more than stand alone shots.
Think in terms of photo sketching and journaling and try producing images to capture the essence of a place or to tell a specific story.
Think about the end product for your image making - this could be a grid or collage of images, a panel for accreditation such as the RPS, or a zine or book project.
For my projects I use Adobe Indesign to lay out all my grids, panels, zines and books. This is an excellent option but an expensive one if you are not likely to use it often. There are other choices such as Affinity Publisher or there are companies out there that will allow you to load images into pre designed templates for zines and books. I don’t have any experience of these but places like Saal Digital or Blurb are popular.
As I look at my finished River Orwell Zine and think about all the hard work that went into its publication, from myself and all the other contributors, I am reminded that nothing worthwhile is ever easy and getting started can sometimes seem like the hardest part. But if you are looking for a focus for your photography I would encourage you to have a go. Start small with a few images and see where the momentum takes you. And whatever you produce, the journey, the development and the learning is the important part and the end product is just the icing on the cake.
Thank you very much for reading. I will be taking a short break from posting for the next couple of weeks so that I can focus on my own photography projects, but until next time enjoy your photography.
Gill
Gill, another inspirational post, thank you.
Thank you Gill. Some very helpful information in this (as always). Enjoy your break from social media and I look forward to your next post.