On a still summer evening more than 40 years ago, next to a ruined watermill on the banks of the River Avon in Gloucestershire, I was trying to work out how to use the Graflex 5in x 4in Speed Graphic camera I had just bought from Exchange & Mart, the eBay of the era. I had this wonderful object but no subject, and ”“ frustrated by the dull routine of studying for an engineering degree ”“ I was desperate to be a photographer. I planned to travel the country photographing English cathedrals, then to travel the world photographing wars. Should I continue with my degree or go to Vietnam? It never quite happened that way; I changed to psychology and completed my degree. But I did become a photographer.
Strangely enough, in 2007 ”“ more than 25 years later ”“ I won a commission to photograph eight British cathedrals for the Royal Mail. Then, with English Cathedrals (1989) by Edwin Smith and Olive Cook as my guide and a pack of “Anglican Cathedrals of England” Classic Trumps, I set out to photograph all 42.
Read it all.
(FT) Peter Marlow–Morning glory: England’s cathedrals
On a still summer evening more than 40 years ago, next to a ruined watermill on the banks of the River Avon in Gloucestershire, I was trying to work out how to use the Graflex 5in x 4in Speed Graphic camera I had just bought from Exchange & Mart, the eBay of the era. I had this wonderful object but no subject, and ”“ frustrated by the dull routine of studying for an engineering degree ”“ I was desperate to be a photographer. I planned to travel the country photographing English cathedrals, then to travel the world photographing wars. Should I continue with my degree or go to Vietnam? It never quite happened that way; I changed to psychology and completed my degree. But I did become a photographer.
Strangely enough, in 2007 ”“ more than 25 years later ”“ I won a commission to photograph eight British cathedrals for the Royal Mail. Then, with English Cathedrals (1989) by Edwin Smith and Olive Cook as my guide and a pack of “Anglican Cathedrals of England” Classic Trumps, I set out to photograph all 42.
Read it all.