I grew up in a little village in Devon near Torquay. It was a new housing estate of starter homes which of course I had no concept of. The view from my bedroom window was of farmers fields which often was full of sheep which could be heard usually in the morning. The country lanes and the farmers field were our playground (there were threats that the farmer would come chasing after us with his shot-gun). The surrounding area was typically idyllic, the neighbouring village was full of thatched cottages and the nearby coastline was a tourist haven of beach-huts, amusements, ice-cream and fish and chips.
This early experience has definitely influenced my view of the landscape. I feel protective towards that rural idyll. Despite not being particularly nationalistic, I realise my sense of identity is interwoven within this supposed ‘natural world’.
In early adult hood, I moved to London and enjoyed the energy and chaos of the city. I think I rejected my countryside roots as being backward and slow but as time went on and I became fatigue by the city, I began to crave that slower pace, simpler life with it’s open green spaces. I then moved up to Yorkshire in search of that, where I got to know the surrounding moors and dales and reconnected with Cumbria.
Since beginning this photography journey, my views are changing. I think I once viewed somewhere like the Lake district which I visit often to walk and now to photograph, as somewhere pure and natural in comparison to the city being corrupt and dirty. Of course this is an overly simplistic view of things. I think I had this illusion of wildness because of how hill walking makes me feel, free and alive but of course our national parks are in many ways spaces that are safe and managed and not exactly as natural and wild as we would like to think.
Like many, I feel concerns politically of our growing population and our demands on natural resources, even just the growing expanses of land needed to widen roads and build houses but I guess I’m also hopeful too. There is an ever growing desire to do things right and preserve, protect and cherish our natural landscape and we are beginning to realise that we need to have a more hands off approach rather than intervention and management. I think we are moving slowly to greener technologies that should be less demanding and polluting. Cleaner and more efficient farming methods that are more respectful to the land and different methods of transport are in sight.
Does that mean a new utopia is on the horizon? I suspect not.
Landscape, Place and Environment 