Passion
One of the greatest gifts I’ve been given through my Photography – is that of friendship. I’ve found over these past few years that I’ve met some wonderful, passionate people from all walks of life.
Just this summer, I had the good fortune to meet Peter Freeman. He came up to my home in Edinburgh for some tuition on ‘digital darkroom printing’ with me, all the way from the Lake district – an area that I know very little about – having only visited it twice – once when I was 12 and a few years back for a weekend.
Naturally, I know very little about my clients when they come to spend time with me, but what I often find is that someone turns up as a client and leaves as a friend. I know that this certainly happened with Peter and I. He came up with some wonderful 35mm transparencies which blew me away, and over the course of an evening, we spent time disecting his images and discussing how dodging and burning in Photoshop could improve what I felt were already stunning images. He left that night, having issued me an invite to come down to the Lakes and spend some time with him, which I did a few weeks ago.
It was a terrific time, and although I don’t feel that the Lakes is ‘my jurisdiction’ – where I should be carving out a body of work from, I came home knowing that Peter has done just that – and he’s published his own book too – which is Gorgeous.
He’s passionate about the Lakes, and he’s spent a lot of time getting to know regions that are seldom visited. During my time with him, it transpired that he is keen to work on a ‘definitive book’ about the Lakes – None of the usual twee – stock images, but images showing the Lakes like it’s never been seen before. Only, I feel he has done just that with his current book.
I can’t explain it – but I feel Photography has handed me so much – I’ve been able to travel to some pretty exciting locations, I’ve felt inspired by what I’ve witnessed as a photographer, but what I think I find the most engaging – is the people I get to meet along my way. I know it isn’t over yet – I’m looking forward to those chance encounters and the friends I have yet to make.
Bruce, his website seems to be off the air. I’d like to have a look at it, having just been to the Lakes.
Comment by jeffg53 — 18 November, 2009 @ 1:13 am
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – quote Marcel Proust. You seem to have achieved that with your art & passion about it. Nice blog (and I think you explain it well ;-).
Comment by Redhair — 18 November, 2009 @ 9:20 pm
Hi Jeff,
I’m not sure why Peter’s web site is off air at the moment. But his book is quite inexpensive and has been beautifully printed – I believe it costs £25, so you could always ‘take a chance’ and buy it if you can find it… I believe he only printed 3,000 copies of it, and it doesn’t have a main distributor.
FYI – he used the same printer that Joe Cornish uses, because he was keen to keep the quality of the lithographs top-notch.
Comment by Bruce Percy — 18 November, 2009 @ 11:50 pm
Hi Redhair,
Many thanks for that quote by Marcel Proust.
I do think that photography is about seeing our surroundings with new eyes – or opening ourselves to interpreting what is around us in a new way.
Photography heightens our awareness and our senses.
Many thanks for the kind words & encouragement.
Comment by Bruce Percy — 18 November, 2009 @ 11:52 pm
Thanks Bruce, I was hoping to buy direct, and save him the comission. I’ll have a dig around. At £25, it’s not a major purchase but I’m getting wary of buying books blind. Anyway, I can always come back here and gripe if I don’t like it :-)
Comment by jeffg53 — 19 November, 2009 @ 12:02 am