alan frost photography

Churches Project no 19 – The church harvestman at Buncton

Harvestman in the church

There are occasions when something in a photograph only reveals itself when processing the image and is not ‘seen’ at the time of pressing the shutter. This happened with this image. I was attracted to a vase of dried flowers standing on a small carved stone shelf plinth in All Saints Church, which is in the parish of Wiston with Buncton in West Sussex.

It was only when I made the image that I saw the harvestman in the top left corner of the frame. A small but I think now important detail in the shot. To see it for yourself you might want to click on the picture above to view a larger version, or for the sake of simplicity I have included a crop below.

Harvetsman detail

Interestingly a harvestman is not a spider. Although it has eight limbs and looks like a long-legged spider, it isn’t one. It is one of the Opilones, a group of arachnids closely related to spiders. Unlike the spiders, it has no silk glands so is not able to spin a web. It does not have fangs and does not produce venom.

This church had another floral display in an arched recess formed from what was previously the southern entrance doorway of the church.

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Another interesting detail – A piscina in the south wall near the altar……

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And finally, the altar table and a small recess with three candles had all the signs of other past inhabitants.

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The church is mainly Norman, has Saxon origins and is largely unrestored. Hidden from the road it is approached through a wooded dell and over a stream. On entering the graveyard, the church reveals itself and enjoys a picturesque setting adjoining open farmland. A quintessential rural location for an unspoilt country church in the South Downs.

An alternative to monochrome photography – drawing in charcoal

I have just completed a short course at West Dean College on Landcape Drawing in Charcoal . I considered it to be entirely complementary to my photography; for whilst it is a very different medium the end result is still in monochrome. I have drawn in the past but rarely ever practice, so it made a pleasant change to do something entirely different.

The tutor and very talented artist was Kate Boucher, who demonstrated and clearly described her drawing techniques. She was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. On the last day I worked from one of my photographs taken in The Lake District back 2013, which I called ‘Three Trees’. The A2 charcoal drawing can be seen above, and below I have included the original photograph so you can compare the two.

Having made the comparison it made me realise that I would now process the orginal photograph in another way. Adding more contrast, grain and a tone would create a more dramatic and moody picture – and here it is.

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I still rather like the charcoal drawing although the newly processed photograph is in my opinion an improvement on the original.

Am I going to rush out and sell my camera gear? Certainly not!

However exploring different types of art brings it’s benefits and there is no reason why photography and drawing can’t work alongside one another. I can learn things from both and apply some of these ideas accordingly. Irrespective of the medium being used, a pleasing and successful image needs to be well seen and composed; suitably processed or drawn and the direction of the light and how it falls on the subject will always play a crucial part in the overall result.

At the end of the day – observation, capture, interpretation and your vision is what art and picture making is all about – never neglecting of course that you should always try and have fun along the way.

Chichester Art Trail Open Studios

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I am delighted to announce that my wife Helen and I will be exhibiting our artwork as part of the Chichester Art Trail during the first two weekends in May. This is a very well established event. It provides an opportunity for the public to view the work of over 170 talented artists in and around the Chichester area, either in the artist’s studio or in their home. This is the first time we have taken part so we are looking forward to the event with great anticipation and a little apprehension thrown in for good measure!

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I will be displaying my monochrome photographs, whilst my wife will be exhibiting her Mixed media paintings, Collages and Found Object sculptures. An example of her work is shown below and more of her work can be seen on her website – www.helenfrostartist.com.

Helen

Prior to the Art Trail, all of the artists will be displaying one or two examples of their work at The Oxmarket Centre of Arts in Chichester between Tuesday 24th and Sunday 29th April. This exhibition will be open to the public and is a great way to glean a taste of all the art on offer and plan a personal Trail route.

For more information you can visit the Chicheter Open Studios Art Trail website or the PDF brochure can be downlaoded by clicking on this link – chichester_art_trail_guide_2018.

If you happen to be in the area for either the Public Exhibition or for the Art Trail itself then we do hope you will call in to see our work and have a chat.

Dorset in the snow

The number of times we experience snow in southern England are relatively rare, although we have had two quite significant falls in the past few weeks. What perhaps is more unusual, is for me to be in the right place and have the time to make some photographs of a ‘white’ landscape which is so well suited to monochrome.

In the past few days we have had the ‘Mini Beast from the East’, a lesser version of ‘The Beast from the East’ which took place at the turn of the month. I have read this morning that ‘The Beast from the East 3’ is being forecast for Easter. I am not a great fan of this naming of weather events, but the media machine clearly benefits.

Yesterday I was in Dorset and virtually all the roads were passable with care. I only had to turn round once where drifting snow had blocked the way ahead. I was fortunate to have good cloud cover as well. I was pleased the sun didn’t shine, as this would only have increased contrast and made setting the correct exposure even more challenging.

I thoroughly enjoyed a cold but photographically productive few hours finding suitable locations and compositions.

The snow simplifies the landscape. Shapes, lines, form and texture come to the fore. The snow helps to emphasise all these ingredients which are always important to a black and white photographer.

Do click on any of the images to view a larger version.

‘Drawing with light’ – church interiors

The word ‘photograph’ is derived from two words in Greek. ‘Phōtós’, genitive of ‘phōs’ meaning light and ‘graphé’ meaning representation by lines or drawing. In other words a photograph is ‘drawing with light’.

Piscina of light

This image is of a piscina, which is a small bowl used to dispose of water in services. It is often set in a wall, as it is here. In flat light I doubt I would have even considered taking a photograph, but lit by the sun coming through a window on the opposite side of the church, this simple architectural feature is transformed. The shape and texture are revealed and there is a depth to the picture which without the light would not be evident.

I am always looking for these brief moments when natural light is at play inside a place of worship. Here are a few more examples.

Shadows and the Cross

Hymn Books

Chancel Step

Three Windows and a Pulpit

Candlelight in The Priory

Light and Shadow in the Nave

I have quite a collection of this type of image, made over a number of years, so some you may have seen before. Whenever I revisit these photographs, which have been ‘drawn by light’ I am always inspired to make even more.