John Blakemore: Seduced by Light brings together black and white landscapes and unique artist’s books from the Hyman Collection to explore movement, light and time.
The exhibition, held at the Centre for British Photography, includes black and white landscapes made in Wales and England. These range from early works that respond to the movement of water to later works taken in a forest that combine up to 48 exposures on a single negative capturing, in a single image, the ever-changing light and wind.
The display also presents a selection of John Blakemore’s unique hand-made artist books. These books, usually made from colour photographs, reveal the ways that in recent years Blakemore has turned away from dark-room printing to explore colour photography. This has found its fullest expression in his unique hand-made artist’s books. At the heart of these, there is a concern with sequencing and rhythm. Each book takes the viewer on an intimate journey that suggests the possibility of a spiritual communion with nature through a poetic or metaphysical response to light.
John Blakemore is one of the greatest British photographers and darkroom printers of the last half century. One of the leading photographers of landscape and the natural world, his equisite black and white prints, each subtly different as a result of toning or variations in exposure - represent interpretative responses to the subject before him.
The exhibition is accompanied by a specially commissioned new film about the photographer. Find the full 30 minute film on Vimeo HERE.
Curated by James Hyman
