Field studio process

By upbringing and instinct, I’m a non-conformist. Or, to be correct, I’ll think carefully about something before conforming to it. When I began in “nature photography” 40 years ago, it was quite a fringe activity, practised by a slightly eccentric group of naturalists. Today, it’s widely practised as a competitive sport by many non-naturalists. This type of “nature photography” is not my scene, and the work I present here is doesn’t fit into it. Instead, it has its roots in a long tradition of natural history illustration and I’m happy that I’ve made a shape, something between graphic art and photography, that can’t be pigeon-holed. It suits the non-conformist in me.

The concept of photographing natural subjects out of context, against plain backgrounds, goes back to the 1920’s and Karl Blossfeldt’s work. I have published extensively on the techniques and ideas behind the “field studio” since 2007 and in that time have seen a large growth of interest in this specialist field.

These pictures start with an idea of what I want illustrate. I photograph the elements I need for it, each against a pure white, backlit background, or else take a selection from my archives.

And then it’s time to face the blank page.

Assembling the composite pictures is a long process of placing, walking away, reviewing and adjusting that takes place over several days.

You can learn all about the processes I use in The Field Studio. How to create perfect portraits of nature on white, available here as a PDF.