James Ravilious
http://www.jamesravilious.com
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3669158/James-Ravilious-A-world-in-Photographs-Nobody-here-is-on-their-best-behaviour.html
James would be the most influential artist to refer to when considering my project, in the early 1970's James took up photography capturing the largely unspoilt yet vulnerable countryside of North Devon, leading to a huge contribution of images to the local Beaford Archive. His works started as a hobby, short term project which lead into a seventeen year obsession. within that time James took over 80,000 black and white images, capturing all aspects of local rural life: landscape, farming and everyday life and special occasions. His work conveys the same message as mine in capturing the familiar area that i live in with consideration of environmental change and agriculture, although a different part of North Devon to Ravilious. His works are probably the most intensive record of any rural area in England. His images are composed with the eye of an artist capturing subtle qualities of light. More than anything his images are warmed by his affection and appreciation for the people of whose lives he recorded, revealing real life as it was at the time. His work has been exhibited in England, France and America.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3669158/James-Ravilious-A-world-in-Photographs-Nobody-here-is-on-their-best-behaviour.html
James would be the most influential artist to refer to when considering my project, in the early 1970's James took up photography capturing the largely unspoilt yet vulnerable countryside of North Devon, leading to a huge contribution of images to the local Beaford Archive. His works started as a hobby, short term project which lead into a seventeen year obsession. within that time James took over 80,000 black and white images, capturing all aspects of local rural life: landscape, farming and everyday life and special occasions. His work conveys the same message as mine in capturing the familiar area that i live in with consideration of environmental change and agriculture, although a different part of North Devon to Ravilious. His works are probably the most intensive record of any rural area in England. His images are composed with the eye of an artist capturing subtle qualities of light. More than anything his images are warmed by his affection and appreciation for the people of whose lives he recorded, revealing real life as it was at the time. His work has been exhibited in England, France and America.
"I know of no other presentation of a particular place and people which is a broad and as captivating as James Ravilious's photographs of North Devon. They are the fruit of a quite exceptional acuity and patience of witness and of a quite unusual humility and warmth of spirit. This great body of work establishes its author as a master of the art of photography whilst at the same time it makes an unparalleled pictorial contribution to social history."
Olive Cook, Matrix
Ravilious's images despite being more documentary based, some are actually quite picturesque and pretty images with lots of light, something i try to move away from within my work, i prefer cloudy over cast and misted scenes. His images truly capture a way of life that has been long forgotten, a crucial part of history that will live on forever through his images. i tend to steer away from people as subjects within my images but for James is was necessary for capturing the total way of life in rural north devon at the time, the people and the land they live and work on.