The Ghosts of Barrow Wake
Hi Everyone,
I'm back home after grappling with the European travel chaos this week ...:(
Here is my last minute entry for this week's theme - had meant to post more, but was all EuroStar'd out...:eek:
This image is No 11 from a panel of 15 and it represents an inferno. By way of explanation, I have taken the liberty of copying the text below from my website - without it, the image is pretty meaningless, but most people get a little freaked-out when they read the commentary. When I put the panel together I had no inkling of the burning car episode - it was as if the story wanted to be told...
This is the panel that secured my Associateship of the Royal Photographic Society. The story behind the series is as follows:
My first visit to Barrow Wake, a well-known beauty spot near Birdlip in Gloucestershire, was during the heavy snows of last winter. But the beauty of the landscape was not enough to block the unease that I felt whilst there and I was intrigued enough to make several more visits. I used in-camera techniques to convey the story that developed in my imagination, one of disquiet, terror, death and retribution.
In the top row we observe ghostly figures moving uneasily through a dreamlike landscape. Then the nightmare begins. A single image, placed alone in the middle of the panel, induces a sinister change of mood, a looming shadow as the ghosts take centre stage. The bottom row opens with a distant incandescence and the full fury of an inferno is unleashed. The nightmare continues as a solitary ghost is laid bare, turned to ash, a lonely and desolate figure. We see a procession of sorrowful souls that lead to the final image...
I subsequently discovered that in 1993 there was an attempted murder at Barrow Wake. A couple were tied up and put in a burning car which was then pushed over the edge of the escarpment.
50D 28-135mm
ISO 100
f/32 1 sec
Taken in windy conditions at sunset. A curves adjustment by way of PP.
The rest of the panel can be seen on my website. :D
Thanks so much for your C & C's.
Best regards to all,
Nicki
