John Blakemore is a British photogrpaher, born in Coventry, 1936. He is well known for his very detailed and balanced prints, according to the centre of British Photography, he is "one of the greatest British photographers and darkroom printers of the last half century." He discovered photography while travelling to Libya with the British Air Force. Blakemore was also inspired by Edward Steichen, more specfically Steichen's project "Family of Man." Blakemore is celebrated for the "detail, texture and tonal richness of his work."

His books include: Inscape (1991), Stilled Gaze (1994) and John Blakemore's Black and White Photography.

After returning from National Service, Blakemore began to photograph the people of Coventry, working under Black Star agency as a freelance photographer.

Later he evolved his personal work to focus on the natural environment and forces of nature such as wind or water.

I am particularly interested in Blakemore's work, namely this focus on movement and energy that the long exposures give the landscape. This is an effect I want to try and replicate in my own work. The movement in these photographs conveys a more unique sense of life compared to a static photograph, where the movement is frozen completely.

These are some of my favourite landscape photographs by John Blakemore, and will serve as inspiration for my own photoshoot. I find the clarity and detail of the photographs incredibly appealing, the landscapes also remind me a lot of Cannock Chase, which is where I am going for my photoshoot.

Ansel Adams was an American Photographer who focused, and is known for his stunning landscapes of West America. The jaw-dropping detail of his photographs are what caught my eye, he presents these gorgeous landscapes with a stunning clarity. From an early age, Ansel found great joy in nature, taking walks around the dunes and beaches and wild areas of America.  

The Mural Project:

Working with the National Park Service, under a 180 day contract, Ansel, his friend Cedric and his son Micheal embarked on a roadtrip, photographing national parks, Indian reservations and other areas related to the National Park service. The goal of this contract was to create photographs to decorate the wall of the department's new building. 

This photograph of an American National Park gives a sense of scale, the horizon is populated with trees and bushes, whilst the stone slabs tower in front of us, the river winding through them. I like this photographs because of hard it would be to find a place like this, untouched by civilisation, without some kind of journey, photographing places like these gives people a glimpse into the wild, untampered side of the world. 

On the opposite end of the scale spectrum, this photograph is a reminder to look around and see beauty in things as small and mundane as leaves. I like this idea of capturing small details and noticing things around me a lot, I try to do it in my own photographs. 

This is my favourite photograph of Ansel's by far, I love the clarity throughout the picture and the amount of details that fill the frame. the moon looming over the sprawling mountains, the little town in the foreground, with trees and nature around it, and the graveyard on the right of it. This view in person must have been a stunning sight.

REFLECTION:

I am very happy with how this photoshoot went, I managed to achieve the effect I hoped with the longer shutter speed. I captured the movement of water more effectively than the leaves, it wasn't a very windy day so the trees didn't have a lot of movement. The sun was fairly bright, so I was limited in how slow my shutter speed could be. I used a tripod to stabilise the camera during the longer exposures. I also shot on a high F-Stop to retain more clarity and detail in my photographs, and I am really happy with how it turned out. I made a deliberate point of consciously considering and actively thinking when I took my photographs, and I think it shows in the results.