A sort of national property in which every man has a right and
interest who has an eye to perceive and a heart to enjoy.
William Wordsworth 1770 – 1850
Summer saw another happy visit to Buttermere. A beloved Lake District destination.
On previous visits I had recorded the area’s typography and documented it’s vibrant natural colour palette. This time I decided to photograph the place using my ancient Fujica stills camera and, thanks to a kindly friend, a roll of Ilford FP4 black and white 35mm film.
The pictures were taken on a fresh, bright early June day yet the monochrome gives the landscape a barren, desolate air. A wilderness. Perhaps like the surface of an imaginary planet.
I have left in the dust spots, blemishes of stray light and grainy textural inconsistencies; the by-products of film. They make the images graphically interesting and give the impression that the photographs could have been taken a hundred years ago. The vistas they reveal can hardly have changed in that time, which is why Lakeland is so wonderful.
The place is indeed timeless.
The Steven Aspinall Archive 