IN the second appearance of Artlinks – the new Reconnect regular designed to help local artists get their work out into the community – MARTIN FOSTER introduces two photographers who find beauty and drama in local landscapes and architecture.
IT has become something of a cliché that ‘we’re all photographers now’… But while the fact that most of us have a decent digital camera on our ever-present phones, that doesn’t mean we have all become, or are even becoming, great photographers. In fact, some point to our image-driven society – from that first check of the mobile screen in the morning to the last frame of the Netflix boxset at night – as yet another sign that new media and technology is eating us all alive. One thing is certain, though. It does mean we are all becoming increasingly image literate; we are developing a feel for identifying images that have greater impact, more depth, something else to say. And that is good news for the real masters of the photographic art – our appetite for all forms of art, and particularly super-accessible photography, is greater now than ever before. Recent months have been particularly rewarding for Vicki Gardner, a Devon photographer who specialises in garden and nature images. Vicki reached the finals of the International Garden Photographer of the Year Awards with a series of images entered into the Royal Photographic Society’s Portfolio category. She was one of just six finalists in her category in this huge international competition that attracts tens of thousands of extremely high standard entries. Vicki also received an Honourable Mention in the International Black and White Photography Awards at the end of last year. Both achievements were in response to her images of the Italian Garden at Great Ambrook, near Ipplepen, between Newton Abbot and Totnes, where she is garden photographer. The garden features an unusual Italianate design with stunning architecture. Vicki’s entry for IGPOTY was a series of black and white images focusing on the juxtaposition of the architecture and the encroaching untamed nature. The Italian Garden pictures were all shot using Canon gear, but in a radical departure from the digital world, her Honourable Mention image was shot using a pinhole camera and infrared film. Vicki’s work also concentrates on macro and botanical imagery as well as general garden photography. But these are not her first awards. She was awarded first and third prizes in the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society’s photographic competition in 2001, and during the past year she has also been awarded Qualified status with the Guild of Professional Photographers and Licentiate with the Royal Photographic Society.
Vicki exhibits regularly, including as part of Devon Open Studios and can enjoy her work through Facebook with Vicki Gardner Photography – Devon and on Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest with vickigphoto.
OUR second photographer is Totnesbased Phil Hemsley, who also sent this account of his “voyages of discover” in the South Devon countryside. WANDERING through the local holloways, woodlands and quiet country lanes during the lockdown has been one of the joys of these strange times. One of my favourite things is to wake early enough to watch the sun rise and hear the joyful dawn chorus in the countryside that sits just beyond my estate at the edge of Totnes. Watching the pastel hues of first light evolve into neon pinks and, on some mornings, then rich gold is a delight. On misty mornings I see spiders’ webs bejewelled in dew, glinting in the sunshine, and hear dainty little Wrens belting out a tune, mingling with Song Thrush, Blackbird, Long -Tailed Tit… and Robins, ever-present and telling me so. I travel up through the ancient sunken lanes – the sun percolating through gnarled trees and layers of deeptime, then onwards across ridgeways and quiet lanes in the plateaus and hanging-valleys. I see Buzzards effortlessly soar in the thermal up-draughts, occasionally mobbed by a few bouncers from the local Jackdaw colonies when their air space has been ‘invaded’. On walks further from home, I see Kestrels hovering and hunting for shrews over the rewilded species-rich Sharpham Meadows. On my last visit there, a Peregrine flew over twice at a staggering speed – the fastest animal on earth blasting along the Dart valley. Other times I have sat there watching Linnets, Goldfinches, Fieldfares and Chaffinches. The Grey Seals wandering up the tidal Dart are a joy to watch on the early morning walks. Watching one catch, peel and gorge on a massive salmon was just awesome. I have sat in my back garden in my camouflage gear and had the joy of watching dunnocks and goldfinches less than two metres away, while butterflies and bees enjoyed harvesting the nectar of our buddleia. Whether wandering beside the Queen’s Marsh watching the elegant fish assassin catching their lunch; listening to blue tits while picking some wild garlic leaves; or watching a roe deer wander along the treeline of a tidal creek as it plucks oak leaves – there’s a wealth of nature to be noticed and appreciated close to home.
OVER TO YOU
So this is what Artlinks does – provides some rare printed (and online)
space where local artists can give readers a taste of their work and ways
in which they can see more.
If you’re an artist working within the Reconnect (Exeter/South Devon/
Plymouth) patch, get in touch. We need at least three or four hi-res JPEG
images, plus as many words as you need to tell the story of the what and
why and where you do your work.
Likewise, if you run or promote a gallery in the area, get in touch.
l Email Martin at martinfoster4242@gmail.com.