Exploring the Great Wold Valley

Greetings from the Yorkshire Wolds!

I was incredibly sad to see the news earlier this year of the passing of David Hockney. I've been a huge admirer of his work since I attended art college in the early 90s. Living in the heart of the Yorkshire Wolds, or 'Hockney Country' as it's become fondly known, I felt an even greater connection to his work. Hockney's paintings of 'The Tunnel' - depicting a tunnel of trees with a trail vanishing into the distant hills are a fifteen minute walk from our home in Kilham, with many other scenes nearby.

From a landscape photography perspective, the Yorkshire Wolds are a difficult subject to photograph. Painting is most definitely a more suitable medium in which to evoke the undulating nature of the gentle, rolling hills. It is a beautiful and peaceful location to experience but can lack the drama that some landscape photographers seek.

I have lived in, or on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds all my life, and it is only now aged 53, that I have discovered an aesthetic which I am happy to pursue in order to portray my home county. A style that I feel evokes the subtle beauty to be found here.

There are two factors which led to this spark of inspiration. Firstly, I'd recently began reading about the ancient history of the Great Wold Valley. Within this valley is a mysterious 'winterbourne' stream known as the Gypsey Race, which has its source near Wharram le Street (also home to an abandoned medieval village). The Gypsey Race then flows through this spectacular valley, disappearing and reappearing, at various locations before eventually flowing into the sea near Bridlington. Along the course of this enigmatic stream are numerous ancient sites - burial mounds such as long barrows and round barrows, and the tallest prehistoric monolith in the UK, at Rudston. The more I read, the more intrigued I became by these ancient wonders on my doorstep. These sites are of a deeply spiritual nature and as significant as the sites on Salisbury Plain and Orkney. The problem photographically, lies in making these often very bland locations work as engaging images.

The other ingredient for this new found aesthetic lies with the camera that I'm using - an old Yashica MAT-124G with a very flawed lens [See previous blog post 'Flawed Optics' for more info on the camera].

This camera, paired with CineStill BwXX (Double-X) film, creates a wonderfully ethereal effect. The working title of this series is 'Spiritual' - inspired by the nature of the ancient history here. This also allows me to channel my own feelings around spirituality and a deep connection to landscape. The Gypsey Race, known locally as the 'Woe Waters' provides the element of mystery which I always try to evoke in my work. The flawed lens renders a subtle, hazy glow to the photographs, as in the image above of the Gypsey Race itself. This unique effect works beautifully on water and has the ability to soften landscapes. These numinous scenes seem to contain spirits of the past, flowing mysteriously through the Great Wold Valley.

In other news I have been hobbled over the summer, profoundly ill with a suspected long-covid or post-viral state being the culprit - pending further tests. I am four months into an illness which has seen me go from being able to cycle over hundred miles, to barely being able to walk to the end of our garden. Although things have improved slightly my life has ground to a halt in many ways. Because of this I have had to cancel any upcoming workshops. Participants have been notified. I can only hope for improvements to arrive swiftly!

I am still available for all online tuition however, so please don't hesitate to get in touch. For inspiration do check out some of the online options on offer here; online tuition.

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Talk soon!

Karl.