Ox Close Wood is a small area of ancient woodland in West Yorkshire. The wood has a long history of being 'worked' by man. For many centuries it was a significant resource in the life of adjacent village, East Keswick. Villagers took timber and nuts from the wood, alongside using it for grazing of their animals. Extensive coppicing maintained the vitality of the woodland. A series of terraces crossing the wood are thought to be part of a medieval strip system. Today the wood is owned by the village wildlife trust and so remains an area of open access.
Ox Close Conversations is a series of conversations which I experienced in the woodland. Conversations which I hope are between equals, and respect the wood as a 'being' in its own terms rather than ours. It is an attempt to create space for patience and attention to the 'insignificant', one in which to meditate my relationship with the world around me.
The work owes much to the inspiration of Ray Metzker, an American photographer trained in the 1940's under Harry Callahan. Through his lifetime, Metzker developed a style of landscape photography where he explored, in material and metaphoric form, the chaos and complexity of the arborial world around us.
Ox Close Conversations is a series of conversations which I experienced in the woodland. Conversations which I hope are between equals, and respect the wood as a 'being' in its own terms rather than ours. It is an attempt to create space for patience and attention to the 'insignificant', one in which to meditate my relationship with the world around me.
The work owes much to the inspiration of Ray Metzker, an American photographer trained in the 1940's under Harry Callahan. Through his lifetime, Metzker developed a style of landscape photography where he explored, in material and metaphoric form, the chaos and complexity of the arborial world around us.