Starting point
A family trip that ended up becoming a hike across Dartmoor, taken as a good opportunity to experiment with my camera and try a more documentative and objective style of photo-taking.
I moved towards using black and white for these photos, because I saw black and white as bringing a different quality to my photos. The photos I chose had a range of tones and colours, so by using black and white I was able to 'balance' the photos, not having one stand out more than the others.
With the writing for this project I wanted to try and convey the wonder of hiking across Dartmoor, to try and recreate what I felt on the walk. To build on this, I looked to Dartmoor's reputation and presence in literature for inspiration. I thought about two contrasting images of the moor, referencing the Hound of the Baskervilles to emphasise the darker and more fearful elements of the moor, and War horse to emphasise the majesty and beauty of the moor.
I also made a conscious choice in how I organised and presented the photos, rather than a simple gallery box. I had three portrait photos and three landscape, that I organised in an alternating pattern, with a sort of left-to-right intent. I thought that this worked to present them as it allows the viewer to 'read' the photos. Something that came to mind with this idea was triptychs, specifically altar triptychs, which were used in churches as a narrative display, like a kind of religious graphic novel.
I thought that this created a relationship between my project and a kind of reverent aspect towards Dartmoor, adding to the majesty of it all.
Resolution
30 miles from top to bottom. In hindsight, probably not the best idea. Although there are worse places to be trekking 30 miles, than through one of the most desolate yet beautiful places in the country. If you are looking for a brooding landscape full of contrast, Dartmoor is it. The perfect setting for sweeping, romantic views and trickling brooks alongside dark, almost barren ground where your footing is lost with every other step. From War Horse, Joey galloping bravely through open hills, to The Hound of the Baskervilles, howling across an ever changing, foggy, mysterious coarse brush; Dartmoor draws you in.
One moment you can be basking in sunshine, looking out over an almost endless scene of rocky outcrops and Tors standing majestically into the sky, and the next you are plunged into a damp, soggy rainfall that fills you with a mild fear of being sucked into the ground and lost forever. Despite the sudden change in atmosphere, Dartmoor never loses its majesty.
When you begin to traverse this mighty, almost tundra-like, moorland, it makes you feel small, but strangely courageous. It feels like an uncharted wonder that you get to explore, to charter, to uncover the mysteries hidden within. A whole new place, that with each Tor and hill makes you want to go further, to push forward into that unknown and keep finding.
One moment you can be basking in sunshine, looking out over an almost endless scene of rocky outcrops and Tors standing majestically into the sky, and the next you are plunged into a damp, soggy rainfall that fills you with a mild fear of being sucked into the ground and lost forever. Despite the sudden change in atmosphere, Dartmoor never loses its majesty.
When you begin to traverse this mighty, almost tundra-like, moorland, it makes you feel small, but strangely courageous. It feels like an uncharted wonder that you get to explore, to charter, to uncover the mysteries hidden within. A whole new place, that with each Tor and hill makes you want to go further, to push forward into that unknown and keep finding.