www.beaford-arts.org.uk/archive/
James Ravilious was born in Eastbourne, England in 1939. His parents were the well-known artists and wood engravers, Eric Ravilious and Tirzah Garwood, however he initially chose accountancy as a career path, but then abandoned this to study art, painting and drawing, at a London Art school. Then later on in life, when he was in his thirties, he developed an interest in photography after being inspired by an exhibition by Henri Cartier-Bresson, and the way he documented fleeting moments of people’s lives in his images. When Ravilious and his wife moved to live in a rural part of Devon, he met John Lane and was commissioned by him to take photographs for the Beaford Archive. The purpose of the archive was to document photographs of life, land and people in a small remote country area around Beaford. Ravilious spent the next 17 years capturing images of rural day to day routine life including country traditions, people, farming and the landscape, as well as preserving images of earlier life in the area. Over this period he created an extensive archive of over 80,000 black and white photos, which captures in detail the life and landscape in rural England in the late 20th century. Many of his images are taken without the subjects being aware, as they were just going about their relatively simple way of life, upholding traditional ways of working, living and entertainment that have existed for centuries in this remote rural area. Aspects of rural lifestyle were in steady decline so his work provides a unique record of this moment in time. As Ravilious was part of the community he lived in, he personally knew most of his subjects and so could capture a more intimate feeling in his images. He documented many of his photographs with titles containing the person’s name, a description of the subject, the exact location and the date it was taken. His images therefore record and document a moment in the lives of the people that care for the animals and tend the land in this small community during this time. He captures their way of life in a dignified personal way so that the viewer feels that they personally know the subjects and the images are not staged and feel true to life as they capture transitory moments in the communities ordinary daily routine. Additionally Ravilious had an ability to capture the beauty of the landscape and his love for it, and this makes his images even more engaging and captivating. His images are available online on the Beaford Archive as well as in a number of books he published, 'Heart of the country', 'Down the Deep Lanes' and 'Corner of England: North Devon Landscapes and People'. Other work Ravilious completed before his death in 1999 was for Save Our Orchids campaign and the Mendip Project for Somerset County Council. I have selected a number of images from the Beaford Archive which I feel illustrate the way he has documented the lives of those living in this small community.
James Ravilious was born in Eastbourne, England in 1939. His parents were the well-known artists and wood engravers, Eric Ravilious and Tirzah Garwood, however he initially chose accountancy as a career path, but then abandoned this to study art, painting and drawing, at a London Art school. Then later on in life, when he was in his thirties, he developed an interest in photography after being inspired by an exhibition by Henri Cartier-Bresson, and the way he documented fleeting moments of people’s lives in his images. When Ravilious and his wife moved to live in a rural part of Devon, he met John Lane and was commissioned by him to take photographs for the Beaford Archive. The purpose of the archive was to document photographs of life, land and people in a small remote country area around Beaford. Ravilious spent the next 17 years capturing images of rural day to day routine life including country traditions, people, farming and the landscape, as well as preserving images of earlier life in the area. Over this period he created an extensive archive of over 80,000 black and white photos, which captures in detail the life and landscape in rural England in the late 20th century. Many of his images are taken without the subjects being aware, as they were just going about their relatively simple way of life, upholding traditional ways of working, living and entertainment that have existed for centuries in this remote rural area. Aspects of rural lifestyle were in steady decline so his work provides a unique record of this moment in time. As Ravilious was part of the community he lived in, he personally knew most of his subjects and so could capture a more intimate feeling in his images. He documented many of his photographs with titles containing the person’s name, a description of the subject, the exact location and the date it was taken. His images therefore record and document a moment in the lives of the people that care for the animals and tend the land in this small community during this time. He captures their way of life in a dignified personal way so that the viewer feels that they personally know the subjects and the images are not staged and feel true to life as they capture transitory moments in the communities ordinary daily routine. Additionally Ravilious had an ability to capture the beauty of the landscape and his love for it, and this makes his images even more engaging and captivating. His images are available online on the Beaford Archive as well as in a number of books he published, 'Heart of the country', 'Down the Deep Lanes' and 'Corner of England: North Devon Landscapes and People'. Other work Ravilious completed before his death in 1999 was for Save Our Orchids campaign and the Mendip Project for Somerset County Council. I have selected a number of images from the Beaford Archive which I feel illustrate the way he has documented the lives of those living in this small community.
Ravilious captured this image of Archie Parkhouse
and his pig in August 1974 at Millhams, Dolton. The image shows the farmer waiting
for his pig to finish its dinner. The farmer is on the left side of the frame
and is leaning against a post with a pipe held in one hand and his other
resting on his hip. His large pig is on the right hand side of the frame and
has its head down as it eats its dinner; the pig has its front legs in the
trough so it can reach into the corners. The image has a relaxed feel about it as
the farmer casually waits for the pig to finish eating. He does not seem to be
in any hurry, and this captures the slower pace of life at the time in this
community, or perhaps just the slowness brought on by the farmers age, or a
warm summer day. The surrounding landscape has been captured in focus due to
the camera being set to a large depth of field, so allowing the viewer to take in the whole scene. We can see that they are
situated in the corner of a field with bushes behind them and the ground in the
field is very muddy, where the pig has churned it up; this gives the image an
authentic country feel. There is a wooden fence panel lying against the post,
positioned between the farmer and his pig and this directs the viewer around
the image. After viewing the farmer in the foreground the leading lines of the
fence panel lead the viewer’s eye to the pig eating its dinner. The farmer does
not appear to be aware that his photo is being taken as he is not looking
towards the camera. This makes the image appear more natural and genuine.
Ravilious took this image during the great blizzard
of 1978 in Ashwell in Dolton. It captures George Ayre as he takes hay to his
sheep for them to eat because of the deep snow. The image shows the farmer in the centre
of the frame carrying a bale of hay on his back. His sheep are waiting for him on the
other side of the gate, and they will be hungry as they have no food to eat as
there is deep snow covering the grass in the fields. Farmer Ayre’s four dogs
are directly following after him, and are forming a curved line leading from
the road in the bottom left of the frame up to the farmer in the middle of the
frame. This line directs the viewer’s eye through the frame towards the farmer
and what he is doing. The loyalty of the dogs and the fact that the farmer has gone
out into the deep snow and cold weather to care for his sheep makes the viewer
respect and connect more with the farmer. The countryside in the background
looks idyllic with the hills coated in snow and overlaid with a soft mist. But
this emphasises the isolation of the location and the difficulty there would be
in getting to it in the cold harsh weather conditions.
This image by Ravilious shows Jean Pickard leading
her flock of sheep down the road in September 1975 in Woolridge, Dolton. The
image shows a woman walking away from the camera viewpoint down a country lane.
Behind the woman there are about 40-50 sheep following her lead, they are all
quite huddled together and are moving as a group. The lane curves around to the
left and vanishes out of sight so the viewer cannot see where she is leading
them and this creates intrigue in the image and it is left to the viewer’s
imagination to determine where they are heading. The group are moving away from
the viewer and towards the sun, and the sunlight is reflecting off the white
fleece on their backs and highlighting them. This draws the viewer’s attention
onto the sheep as it creates a highlight area amongst the darker shadowed
bushes on either side of the road. When I look at this image I am amazed by how
well the sheep are behaving as I cannot see a sheepdog herding them onwards. This
image has obviously not been staged as it would be a normal event in the
countryside to move sheep from one location to another for grazing or
sheering. Ravilious would just have come across the procession and
photographed this fleeting moment of their lives.
This image was taken by Ravilious at Westpark Farm
in Iddesleigh in November 1986 and shows apples being collected into sacks. In
the centre of the foreground a man is placing a basket of apples on the ground
which he has presumably collected from the trees in the orchard behind him.
There are a number of full sacks placed together in a group that have already
been collected. The long shadows of the trees indicate that the sun is low in
the sky so it is likely approaching sunset. The image therefore indicates that it is
towards the end of the day due to the long shadows of the trees and the large
amount of apples that have been collected in the sacks. The position of the
worker with their back curved over implies that the work is tiring and sore on
their back. It looks like they have spent all day doing this physically
demanding task. This makes me feel sympathy for the worker. The side lighting
of the setting sun accentuates the difference between light and shadow and this
makes the image appear more three dimensional and brings it alive to the
viewer. The high contrast between the dark trees/person and the highlight
ground and sky creates mood and a bit of drama in the image making it more
captivating.
This image was taken by Ravilious in March 1980 at
Millhams, Dolton and shows Archie Parkhouse in a barn with his cow. The image
is shown in black and white, which is how almost all Ravilious images were
taken. In the image Farmer Parkhouse is checking over his cow to ensure it is
well. The farmer is smoking a pipe and the cow is reaching her head out towards
him. The farmer has been placed slightly towards the left of centre,
while the cow's head is in the middle of the frame. By the low angle of the side
lighting shining through the gap above the barn door suggests that the image
was taken early in the morning when the sun is low in the sky as it is starting
to rise.
This image has a relaxed natural feel to it, it does
not look posed for and this allows the viewer to connect more with the subjects
as they feel the image is genuine and that they are being allowed to glimpse a
moment of the subjects everyday life. The subject does not seem to be aware
that his photo was being taken, as he is not looking towards the camera and the
cow does not appear to be bothered by the photographer’s presence. These
factors add to the natural feel of the image as if it has just been taken
without the subjects being aware. The light is limited within the barn but the
sunlight coming in above the door is shining on and highlighting the
farmer’s head and the cow’s nose, head and shoulder area. This draws the
viewer’s attention to the farmer and the cow, as our eye is naturally drawn to
highlighted areas. It also indicates that this is where the focus of our attention
should be. The relative close up of the farmer and the way he is caring for his
cow and how the cow is approaching him gives the impression to the viewer of
the caring nature of the farmer. This makes the image more intimate and makes
you feel that you personally know the farmer.
The image is part of the documentation of the day to day life within a
small rural farming community taken in 1980. It captures the way of life that
existed 37 years ago so while it was contemporary at the time, it will have
changed through time but is forever documented in Ravilious images.
Influence
When taking this image I was
influenced by James Ravilious’ work for the Beaford Archive where he captured
many images of people caring for their animals in their normal working surroundings.
Many of these were taken without the subjects being aware that they were being
photographed or alternatively were just ignoring his presence as they were so
used to him walking around and taking images. This therefore allowed him to achieve
natural true to life images which helped viewers connect more personally with
the subjects in them, as they felt they were genuinely being shown a moment in
their day to day lives. Ravilious’ work has influenced this image in that I
have captured a genuine moment in the worker’s day when she was giving treats
of bread to the donkeys and sheep that live at the Centre. The subject does not
appear to be aware that she is being photographed as she is not looking at the
camera rather her attention is focused on the animals that are crowded around her.
This allows the viewer to connect more personally with the subject as they feel
they are being shown a glimpse into a moment of her life at the Centre where
she cares for animals.
Additionally in almost all of his
images Ravilious used a large depth of field to capture the surrounding
landscape just as it would have been seen, and this adds to the authentic feel of
his images. I have also been influenced in setting my camera to have a large
depth of field so that I captured the surrounding landscape in the image clearly
to give the viewer a more holistic and natural viewpoint. They can see the deep
mud on the ground created by the animals’ hooves and the barn in the background
and this demonstrates that it is a genuine natural location.
Another technique
Ravilious used which has influenced this image is in taking it when the sun is low
in the sky. This creates long shadows and adds depth to the image, while the
difference between light and shadow reveals the form in the image making it
appear more three dimensional. I therefore took this image late in the day when
the sun was low in the sky and so added depth to the image. I also made use of areas
highlighted by the sun to direct the viewer’s attention. Including a rectangle
of light in the mud where the worker and one of the sheep are standing which framed
them and focused attention on them. As well as the highlighted regions on the
top of the head of the worker and the backs of the sheep and donkey which
naturally draw the viewer’s eye to the high lit areas. Using sunlight to focus
attention is a technique that I found through my research that Ravilious used,
which I thought was very effective in directing the viewer’s attention and
making the image more captivating. So his use of light also influences my thoughts
in composing this image.
Summary
James Ravilious
work has inspired me to take images for this project that appear genuine and where
the subjects are not posing for them, that are taken in an obviously natural
setting and that allow the viewer to feel more personally connection with the
subjects. Ravilious knew almost all of the people in the small community that
he lived and photographed in and this gave his images a more intimate personal
feel. As my project is based at a dog rescue centre where I have been
volunteering for over a year and I know all of the staff and volunteers there I
too feel that I am personally connected with the people and knowledgeable about
the work that takes place there. This will allow me to capture a more natural
personal feel in my images as the workers there will be less likely to note my
presence and be more relaxed in the images if they do see me. In my images I
want to emulate the way Ravilious’ feel true to life and not staged with my
subjects looking as if they are not aware of my presence or at least ignoring
it. In this way it will genuinely look as if I have captured a moment of the
daily workings at a rescue centre. This will allow the viewer to relate more to
the subjects. Additionally Ravilious used a large depth of field and so was
able to capture the beauty of the landscape in his images and this made his
images more engaging and captivating. I will use a large depth of field camera setting
so that I can capture more detail and give my images a more natural authentic
feel. I also will where possible use natural sunlight to direct viewer’s
attention to where I want it as well as to make my images more captivating and
three dimensional.
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