Show Navigation

Search Results

Refine Search
Match all words
Match any word
Prints
Personal Use
Royalty-Free
Rights-Managed
(leave unchecked to
search all images)
{ 108 images found }

Loading ()...

  • Beautiful old buildings in the unspoilt old town of Ciutadella (once the capital town) of the Balearic island of Menorca. Narrow streets, tall buildings, small windows and many shutters are characteristic features of these streets.
    GD001897.jpg
  • The oldest part of the city of Albuquerque in New Mexico, founded here in 1706 by Spanish colonists. Lots of low, single story ‘adobe’ buildings create a very strong architectural character to the place. <br />
<br />
The only thing that disappointed me was that almost every building is now a gift shop, and very touristy indeed. It’s hard to imagine what it was like in the old days with all that modern gifty stuff!
    GD002422.jpg
  • Beautiful old buildings in the unspoilt old town of Ciutadella (once the capital town) of the Balearic island of Menorca. Narrow streets, tall buildings, small windows and many shutters are characteristic features of these streets.
    GD001900.jpg
  • Beautiful old buildings in the unspoilt old town of Ciutadella (once the capital town) of the Balearic island of Menorca. Narrow streets, tall buildings, small windows and many shutters are characteristic features of these streets.
    GD001898.jpg
  • We stumbled across what we thought was a derelict cottage in the middle of woodland down a tiny track. <br />
<br />
Evening sunlight was pouring through a window beyond, and there was a reflection of the sky and trees in the front windows. I went up to the window &  was shocked to discover signs of habitation. There was even a calendar from 2015 on the wall, yet still I suspected that the place had just been deserted. I took this one image because of the beautiful light and sense of time passing, melancholy almost but imbued with such positive afternoon sunshine. <br />
<br />
It was only then that I heard a car pull up behind us. The very jovial driver was the landowner, and he told us that someone does indeed live there. The tenant is a 75 year old man who refuses to connect any power to the house, even though all the faciities are there. He only has a gas bottle to power his ancient stove. <br />
<br />
This old man has a tiny garden plot over a mile away on a steep cliff side, and he walks there regulalrly to tend his vegetagbles. He has an old car, but that is one of his only links wih modern’ish technology. <br />
<br />
The landowner is in no hurry to move the old gentleman on, and it seems he will see the end of his days in this ancient farmyard cottage, almost off the grid, and I hope deeply happy because of it. <br />
<br />
Next time I’m down, I’d love to photograph the old man himself, if he’d be happy for me to do so. What a character he must be.
    GD002129.jpg
  • Beautiful old buildings in the unspoilt old town of Ciutadella (once the capital town) of the Balearic island of Menorca. Narrow streets, tall buildings, small windows and many shutters are characteristic features of these streets.
    GD001899.jpg
  • International Color Awards 2016 - Nominee in "Nature" category<br />
<br />
When so much of Anglesey has been bought up by the super rich, it is unusual to see any buildings in an historical relatively untouched state. This cottage in a rural backwater, literally! on an untarred country lane, offers a gentle reminder of things that were.
    GD000572.jpg
  • One of a series of images from my project on doors and windows of the world.
    Yellow Window
  • GD000593.jpg
  • Morning sunshne over heavy winter snow, unusually, at Penmon Point, Eastern Anglesey. The imposing cottages of the lighthouse keepers watch over the Penmon Sound.
    GD000568.jpg
  • One of a series of images from my project on doors and windows of the world.
    Orange Trees
  • One of a series of images from my project on doors and windows of the world.
    The Italian Connection
  • Shutters in Shadows
    The Climber
  • One of a series of images from my project on doors and windows of the world.
    Shutters in Shadows
  • One of a series of images from my project on doors and windows of the world.
    Framed in Blue
  • It is hard to get a good angle on both these impressive buildings, especially in the right light, but this evening everything just seemed to fall into place. The warm dead bracken compliments the colours of this beautiful but now disused historic dovecot. With an original wishing well just up a footpath, this place is steeped in history.
    GD000378.jpg
  • GD000669.jpg
  • GD001555.jpg
  • Silent Alleys, Mdina, Malta
    GD000666.jpg
  • GD000678.jpg
  • One of a series of images from my project on doors and windows of the world.
    Window in Circles
  • GD001957.jpg
  • On a drearily dull evening, in heavy gales and drizzly weather, we found ourselves in Britain's smallest city, St Davids in Pembrokeshire. A choir was singing beautifully from within the tungsten lit cathedral, whilst outside the mood was sombre, damp and lonely. It was one of those times where it would have been handy to be religious, to join the warm congregation inside, to open your lungs and hear the beauty - yet there was beauty still, in the rustling leaves in the trees, in the perfect curve of the distant hill, of the faint sound of the sea and of the ever reliable advance of dusk
    GD001320.jpg
  • One of a series of images from my project on doors and windows of the world.
    No. 33
  • Nominated in 10th (2017) International Colour Awards (Architecture category) <br />
<br />
Now disused by the #RNLI the old Lizard Lifeboat House still stands, now houses the gear of the Lizard fishermen. It is gradually looking more dilapidated each time I visit but it will always stand as a reminder to me, at Britain’s most Southerly point, of a place from which the bravest men risked their lives to save the lives of hundreds and hundreds of floundering souls at this notorious peninsula. <br />
<br />
To me, the red is not just the gunwale of a boat, but blood, an artery - a lifeline for the sailors against the darkness of their situation.
    GD000517.jpg
  • I love the way the sharp, lichen-covered triangle of the old barn, pierced the gorgeous rounded curves of the green hillside beyond. Colour, light, geometry, history, a wonderful mix.
    GD002690.jpg
  • An historical slate mill and an old sheep farm in mist, backlit by evening sunsine here at Cwm Ystradllyn, Snowdonia, North Wales
    GD001226.jpg
  • ".............we located the footpath and headed for the crag and a hut circle. Sadly, neither the intense evening sunlight nor the hut circle made an appearance, but just the walk up through thick heather to the fantastic shaped rocks made the jaunt worthwhile anyway. On the far side of the crag the land plummets steeply down a soft grass and heather covered hillside to the rocks below........." An old barn remains 'just' standing, patched and re-patched over the years. The signs of modern man, the telegraph poles and the wire fencing remind us that the past and present are always linked and often integral.
    GD000885.jpg
  • Late afternoon sunlight on a dilapidated old boathouse in Porthaethwy on the Isle of Anglesey.  This place has been patched & patched over the years and I'm surprised it's still standing at all.
    GD002591.jpg
  • An old stone footbridge crosses the river Afon Gwynant, surrounded by small stunted trees. Very middle earth, the troll lives beneath the bridge.
    GD000930.jpg
  • GD000621.jpg
  • So strange. Beaumaris in June. Normally bustling with visitors, dotted with promenaders, yachts gliding across the Afon Menai and dozens of families crabbing from the pier and eating fish & chips, dive bombed by frenzied seagulls, but not this year.<br />
.<br />
There was a gentle, quiet, serenity. Hardly a soul out and about. An old couple sat reading in their car and a man on a bike exercised his dog but really, the only thing happening was nature and the weather, and both were beautiful. I could see Curlew and Oystercatcher on the shore digging for sustenance in the mud bank. Swallows darted overhead and groups of Herring Gulls fished for natural rather than fast food. The tide ebbed and the clouds swirled and shifted rapidly across the being sky. This was pandemic time but for the planet it was a breath of fresh air.
    GD002494.jpg
  • Don’t usually mess around with PhotoShop, preferring to keep things as natural as I remember, but in this case I just felt it was a lovely pair for my old shot, “Reflecting on Past Times”
    GD002415.jpg
  • As is the way with my days off these days, there is no rush ever. Jan works long days and even longer nights in an intensive care department and there is NO shift pattern at all to allow a person’s body clock to plan the week. Her need for sleep catch up is vital, so I have learned not to expect a 7am leap out of bed, and instead to respect her body clock readjustment time. It doesn’t stop me getting fidgety however if the light looks amazing, and the day is going by :-)<br />
<br />
It was Sunday however, and for Jan a rare Sunday off, so whatever! The weather forecast was for brightness, light cloud, zero chance of rain and plenty of sunshine later. We could do a lazy leisurely hill walk later with no worries about the elements or timings. I didn’t really absorb the additional information I skimmed through on the mountain weather forecast though, which indicated freezing level at summits and 45mph winds. Nevertheless we threw in our Paramo’s and Rab wind proofs just in case, along with two flasks of steaming hot coffee.<br />
<br />
At about 2pm we started the one hour drive towards the distinctive pyramid shaped mountain called Cnicht. I haven’t done it for couple of years and I love the mountain (approximately 2200 feet). I have done it from the very meandrous North side and also from the shadowy East facing quarry valley of Cwm Orthin, which was today’s plan as I wanted to show Jan the old quarry workings. However, as part of her prep for some bigger mountains in the next few weeks she said she’d prefer a steep ascent, so we headed for Croesor on the brighter West side instead. This was a first for me too which was nice, making our way up the classic West ridge.<br />
<br />
We decided to have a cuppa and a sandwich in the cafe in the tiny, sleepy hamlet of Croesor but the cafe was so asleep it was closed! I was really surprised, this being the Easter break and a car park packed with walkers’ vehicles. We started up the long, bouldery woodland track before exiting right up towards
    GD001736.jpg
  • Iwas just fascinated by the hard, angular patterns of wall and shadow in this old industrial construction, and the softness of the scoop of cloud overhead. On such a warm day it made me smile.
    GD000785.jpg
  • UNESCO World Heritage Site<br />
<br />
A fleeting burst of light during an overcast, mizzly day in the Welsh mountains.  The light glowed briefly over Llyn Peris before skipping at speed over the levels of the disused Dinorwic slate quarries and then disappearing altogether.<br />
<br />
It’s strange studying these old industrial workings, where men blasted away half a mountainside around half a century ago, but then seeing so many people using the quarried levels for climbing, walking, mountain biking and general sight-seeing. In a way it’s a really positive thing that so much fun has come out of so much destruction, and hardship for the quarrymen of old.
    GD002339.jpg
  • As is the way with my days off these days, there is no rush ever. Jan works long days and even longer nights in an intensive care department and there is NO shift pattern at all to allow a person’s body clock to plan the week. Her need for sleep catch up is vital, so I have learned not to expect a 7am leap out of bed, and instead to respect her body clock readjustment time. It doesn’t stop me getting fidgety however if the light looks amazing, and the day is going by :-)<br />
<br />
It was Sunday however, and for Jan a rare Sunday off, so whatever! The weather forecast was for brightness, light cloud, zero chance of rain and plenty of sunshine later. We could do a lazy leisurely hill walk later with no worries about the elements or timings. I didn’t really absorb the additional information I skimmed through on the mountain weather forecast though, which indicated freezing level at summits and 45mph winds. Nevertheless we threw in our Paramo’s and Rab wind proofs just in case, along with two flasks of steaming hot coffee.<br />
<br />
At about 2pm we started the one hour drive towards the distinctive pyramid shaped mountain called Cnicht. I haven’t done it for couple of years and I love the mountain (approximately 2200 feet). I have done it from the very meandrous North side and also from the shadowy East facing quarry valley of Cwm Orthin, which was today’s plan as I wanted to show Jan the old quarry workings. However, as part of her prep for some bigger mountains in the next few weeks she said she’d prefer a steep ascent, so we headed for Croesor on the brighter West side instead. This was a first for me too which was nice, making our way up the classic West ridge.<br />
<br />
We decided to have a cuppa and a sandwich in the cafe in the tiny, sleepy hamlet of Croesor but the cafe was so asleep it was closed! I was really surprised, this being the Easter break and a car park packed with walkers’ vehicles. We started up the long, bouldery woodland track before exiting right up towards
    GD001737.jpg
  • She felt the solitude; she was alone and content to be so. She could walk for hours if she wanted to, without finding another soul. In a clearing in the dark woods grew a special tree, ancient and distorted, its wise old boughs now a large hand, enticing, beckoning. <br />
<br />
She silently climbed onto its palm and slowly eased her legs either side of a thick branch, a large mossy finger now pressing into her. She abandoned herself to the sensuality of her position. The sticky heat of the day endured and as she lay there, gasping the warm air, she felt the first drops of perspiration trickling down her flesh.
    Intimately Connected
  • Nothing is forever. The rock, millions of years old, is gradually being eroded away, battered and smoothed by repeated attrition from waves, pebbles and sand. There is beauty in it transformation, smooth forms now replace harsh jagged edges and identifiable shapes, faces and objects appear as joints are exploited and widened. <br />
<br />
A huge chair has appeared in a tiny cove, pale and curvaceous like the woman of the cove. At each low tide she can be seen sitting there on it’s rounded granite cushion, surveying her environment, enjoying the breeze in her hair and the warm sunshine on her naked skin. <br />
<br />
This chair has seen many angels, healers and mermaids and although this woman is the blink of an eye in geological terms, when she has returned to the sea another wonder will take her place. It’s always been the way at this magical cove.
    The Chair Woman
  • A flock of birds were amongst the first signs of life as a new day began over the old town of Penzance in South West Cornwall. On the horizon a huge carrier ship sits in the bay. Increasing sunlight slowly increased the contrast on the calm sea beyond the old buildings of this busy working harbour
    GD001985.jpg
  • Beautiful, colour-rich dusk in a cove below Cape Cornwall, St Just, at dusk, a tin-mine hewed landscape within stone, multi millions of years old
    GD001980.jpg
  • Almost the whole fishing fleet had left the harbour leaving this semi derelict old trawler alone at the bleak quayside in the empty fishing harbour of Newlyn in Penwith, Cornwall
    GD001846.jpg
  • A year and a half on from my March Mist Series 2003, the Menai Suspension Bridge was once again shrouded in heavy mist. I was down at the water's edge at breakfast time and it was warm but quite eerie. From this angle, it was hard to see any of the pre rush hour traffic and in the silence, I was able to consider just how old and beautiful this bridge is, and the events and people in history that it's witnessed.
    GD000480.jpg
  • 3 Edition A1 - 5 Edition A2<br />
<br />
Crisp afternoon sunlight spills across remnants of ancient stones in a lost valley. This valley and escarpment was once home to a thriving quarrying community, and long before that a handful of fishing folk, and long, LONG before that, it was home of exiled Brythonic leader Vortigern, who betrayed Britain to the Saxons.
    GD001058.jpg
  • Milleniums of aerial erosion reveal the very rock of our planet, eons old. Transient, fleeting clouds shift overhead but individually have no real effect on the incredible resilience of the permanent earth below.
    GD002727.jpg
  • An HM Custom vessel puts out to sea early one winter's morning on the Menai Strait. In the foreground lie the remnants of the old lifeboat house slipway.
    GD002640.jpg
  • From a personal project looking at buildings & urban spaces under unusual or striking lighting, as if landscapes.
    GD002634.jpg
  • Even from the Isle of Anglesey the clouds over the mountains looked amazing, so I headed for the foothills. Strangely the effects looked better from Ynys Môn than the hills themselves but for a short while, magical moments of light offered themselves up here on the peaks. A huge dark cloud gathered over Garnedd Elidir and remained there even even after I crossed the summit ridge. <br />
<br />
In the background you can see Yr Wyddfa, the highest mountain in Wales & England, amazingly cloud free on its summit, even though much higher than Garnedd Elidir. <br />
<br />
I'd been reading numerous articles about women being anxious about men in the mountains, so it was interesting that bar one man, all my fellow walkers were confident, happy, friendly women, young & old, nothing like the worried women I'd read about in articles. I was pleased that none of these women saw me as a threat in our shared wonderful landscape.
    GD002617.jpg
  • At the end of the day, when the crowds have gone, it is easier to imagine how old this place is. Long before the fishing nets, round house and life-boats, these sands and granite cliffs witnessed the dramatic beauty of the ever changing skies and seas. Everything else is just so temporary, so I like the imagination this place stimulates.
    GD000220.jpg
  • Wonderful rich colours in a derelict old barn near the tip of the rural Llyn Peninsula
    GD001426.jpg
  • Amongst old field patterns on these ancient Welsh hills of the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales, lie even older patterns, of hut circles not easily visible from ground level. This hill is Moel Pen Llechog but all the hills around here were heavily populated (comparatively) byt ancient tribes from Bronze Age to Iron Age and even medieval times.
    GD001251.jpg
  • Amongst old field patterns on these ancient Welsh hills of the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales, lie even older patterns, of hut circles not easily visible from ground level. This hill is Moel Pen Llechog but all the hills around here were heavily populated (comparatively) byt ancient tribes from Bronze Age to Iron Age and even medieval times.
    GD001250.jpg
  • An historic Welsh Chapel nestling into a dark Welsh mountainside faces the Irish Sea. Twilight clouds race past as reflections in the new glass vestibule, designed to allow visitors to stand in warmth and comfort from the Chapel, whilst watching the sea and the weather change in front of them.
    GD001204.jpg
  • In the failing light, remnants of the old jetty stand proud against the powerful rise and fall of the sea. The waves and sky did their best to suck everything away from the beach but these small objects cling like limpets to the shoreline.
    GD000782.jpg
  • Alongside the wood, a small river flows down to the sea from the cascading waterfall of Y Graig Ddu. Through the often stunted and twisted trees at its edge, the old farm of TÅ· Uchaf can be seen, no longer inhabited, but still worked by a local farmer. The sudden downpour of light on the fields created a vivid separation between the open higher ground and the cold,dark,tight-packed mass of trees behind me.Ty Uchaf was like a Wuthering Heights to me, dark windows looking out over the valley and a sense of harshness and foreboding about running a farm in this remote isolated valley.
    GD000756.jpg
  • Early morning mist gardually disappears as the early morning sun hovers over a rural Anglesey landscape and old church, between Talwrn and Pentraeth on the isle of Anglesey. As the sun rose the fog became mist and then gradually evaporated and disappeared.
    GD001581.jpg
  • So strange. Beaumaris in June. Normally bustling with visitors, dotted with promenaders, yachts gliding across the Afon Menai and dozens of families crabbing from the pier and eating fish & chips, dive bombed by frenzied seagulls, but not this year.<br />
.<br />
There was a gentle, quiet, serenity. Hardly a soul out and about. An old couple sat reading in their car and a man on a bike exercised his dog but really, the only thing happening was nature and the weather, and both were beautiful. I could see Curlew and Oystercatcher on the shore digging for sustenance in the mud bank. Swallows darted overhead and groups of Herring Gulls fished for natural rather than fast food. The tide ebbed and the clouds swirled and shifted rapidly across the being sky. This was pandemic time but for the planet it was a breath of fresh air.
    GD002493.jpg
  • Wild Welsh Mountain Ponies roaming free on Llanddwyn Island, a tiny tide separated island off the West coast of Anglesey. An old light house in the background is now a navigational mark and the mountains of the Llyn Peninsula on the Welsh mainland can be seen in the far distace
    GD000543.jpg
  • What would have been rather gloomy interiors of this old diamond mining town, the most beautiful shards of light from broken rooftops pierced the darkness and patterned the coloured walls. Wind howled at the windows and doors but there was relative calm within the sand-filled dilapidated rooms. It was slightly freaky imagining the conditions for the native workers at the height of the diamond boom there.
    GD002291.jpg
  • I’ve seen elephants in zoos, restricted, moving around in circles, stared at by the thousands of noisy visitors - such a desperate form of existence. In the 111 year old and 22,270 km² Etosha National Park in North West Namibia however, I was for the first time able to see these truly magnificent creatures in their natural habitat. Watching David Attenborough programs is always a delight but nothing prepares you for the sheer awe of seeing these animals in real life in their own world.<br />
<br />
From the heavily corrugated dust track, the first thing I saw was what looked like a huge rounded boulder beyond a hillock, but as we drove to the crest of the mound we realised it was in fact the head of a huge African elephant standing at a waterhole! This was real & I’ve never felt so small or humbled by wildlife. There are strict instructions never to leave your vehicle whilst in the park so I had to accept that looking out of the window was the best I was going to get.<br />
<br />
Around us herds of Zebra were drinking, running and frolicking with each other. Springbok daintily skipped past & Oryx and Giraffe were there too. Hundreds of birds flitted about & falcons & other birds of prey circled overhead. It was a visual tapestry of wildlife with so many species all measuring each other up and acknowledging the hierarchies at the hole. What struck me most was the grace of motion of the elephants. Every movement of foot or trunk was slow, fluid & purposeful. At times they were just like living statues, almost motionless, just studying the world about them, and at other times when walking, able to cover big distances so quickly but so gently. I was aware that they were aware of us, large eyeballs measuring us up but not seeming irritated or intimidated.<br />
<br />
It was hard (especially from the car window) to take in the reality of it all rather than still imagining it was a TV program. I also felt deeply sad that it’s only a matter of time before wild elephants are hunted to extinction.
    GD002257.jpg
  • Old Polpeor Lifeboat Station, Britain’s most Southerly point<br />
<br />
I’ve visited this desolate (and derelict looking) place since I was a kid. My parents loved the Lizard peninsula and we would often go there at weekends. This is the Polpeor lifeboat station, built in 1914 and finally closed in 1961 so I’ve never been fortunate enough to have witnessed it being used to house an actual lifeboat.<br />
<br />
What I have witnessed over the last 4 decades is it’s use by local fishermen to house their kit but I noticed this last visit a few weeks ago that the ramp has now completely broken up and it’s really only the shed itself that remains standing.<br />
<br />
The curved boat ramp in the foreground is still used regularly by small local fishing boats as it keeps them free of the worst of the heavy seas and weather.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless you can’t visit this place without becoming vividly aware of it’s important maritime history and the treacherous coastline in which it nestles. Even on the bleakest days I am drawn to this location and it transfers me instantly back to my Cornish childhood.
    GD002218.jpg
  • As is the way with my days off these days, there is no rush ever. Jan works long days and even longer nights in an intensive care department and there is NO shift pattern at all to allow a person’s body clock to plan the week. Her need for sleep catch up is vital, so I have learned not to expect a 7am leap out of bed, and instead to respect her body clock readjustment time. It doesn’t stop me getting fidgety however if the light looks amazing, and the day is going by :-)<br />
<br />
It was Sunday however, and for Jan a rare Sunday off, so whatever! The weather forecast was for brightness, light cloud, zero chance of rain and plenty of sunshine later. We could do a lazy leisurely hill walk later with no worries about the elements or timings. I didn’t really absorb the additional information I skimmed through on the mountain weather forecast though, which indicated freezing level at summits and 45mph winds. Nevertheless we threw in our Paramo’s and Rab wind proofs just in case, along with two flasks of steaming hot coffee.<br />
<br />
At about 2pm we started the one hour drive towards the distinctive pyramid shaped mountain called Cnicht. I haven’t done it for couple of years and I love the mountain (approximately 2200 feet). I have done it from the very meandrous North side and also from the shadowy East facing quarry valley of Cwm Orthin, which was today’s plan as I wanted to show Jan the old quarry workings. However, as part of her prep for some bigger mountains in the next few weeks she said she’d prefer a steep ascent, so we headed for Croesor on the brighter West side instead. This was a first for me too which was nice, making our way up the classic West ridge.<br />
<br />
We decided to have a cuppa and a sandwich in the cafe in the tiny, sleepy hamlet of Croesor but the cafe was so asleep it was closed! I was really surprised, this being the Easter break and a car park packed with walkers’ vehicles. We started up the long, bouldery woodland track before exiting right up towards
    GD001735.jpg
  • It’s impossible for me to walk past the old now abandoned lifeboat house at Penlee, Mousehole without stopping to remember, with great sadness the loss of so many brave, amazing men from one small community. <br />
<br />
The Penlee lifeboat disaster occurred on 19 December 1981 off the coast of Cornwall. The RNLB Solomon Browne went to the aid of the vessel Union Star after its engines failed in heavy seas. After the lifeboat had rescued four people, both vessels were lost with all hands; in all, sixteen people died including eight volunteer lifeboatmen. (From Wiki)<br />
<br />
I was living in Falmouth at the time and the shock across Cornwall and indeed Britain was deep and heartfelt. In school we had assemblies to talk about what had happened to these brave volunteers who risked and lost their own lives to save others. Our communities all felt deep sympathy for the families shattered by the loss of these men. <br />
<br />
To stand above this lifeboat house which was abandoned just two years after the disaster is a direct flashback to that shocking time in my childhood.
    GD002123.jpg
  • First light of dawn over St Michael’s Mount, Mount’s Bay, Penzance last week. Delicate burns of daylight gradually fanned into a gentle glow over the calm waters of the old town’s harbour
    GD001984.jpg
  • The old lighthouse, Twr Mawr can be seen beyond this end of four small cottages on Llanddwyn Island, Anglesey, which were built for the pilots who went out to meet boats needing to navigate into the ports further up the Menai Strait. This island was the home of Saint Dwynwen, the Welsh Patron Saint of Love. Llanddwyn Island is also an extension of the Newborough Nature Reserve.
    GD001905.jpg
  • Two amorous Oystercatchers courted on the crag whilst an old face looks out over timeless seas
    GD001815.jpg
  • Nominated image in the 13th Black & White Spider Awards 2018<br />
<br />
An old tree appears contorted and tired. It sags under the weight of years of observation of time and events. Its smooth silver bark still reflects light even on a dull day and it continues to hold an attraction.<br />
<br />
A lithe woman connected with its old arms, which supported her as she suspended herself. Her young figure curved to echo the old, as one, though she had witnessed so little in comparison. Her body stretched, her spine felt good and her shoulders strong.<br />
<br />
As the wind blew, the tree creaked and the leaves rustled. Almost imperceptibly she started to move with the wind, gently swinging back and forth in the breeze. She was a brief beauty that would soon fall to the earth but in the meantime she was as magical as the tree itself, two very different lives as one.
    The Copse
  • A delicate girl perches bird-like in the arms of an old tree.<br />
<br />
She never really knew her mother, tragically torn away from her when she was no more than a baby.  But in a way, her mother still exists within every breath of her beautiful daughter. They were always connected; the blood and genes still flow and will continue to do so as mother becomes grandmother and daughter becomes mother.<br />
<br />
The strength of the tree is as much in its roots as its wide trunk and thick branches. Even though twigs will break off and beautiful leaves fall to earth, the lifeline continues. The tree appears similar, even after the wonder of a million new leaves but that same original life flows into every one.<br />
<br />
She likes it here, even in the bare nakedness of the tree’s winter form. She understands time. She can feel life beneath her feet and soon she will feel life within her womb. She knows that despite appearances, life goes on and her mother is always with her.
    In Mothers Hands
  • Above me the canopy of an historic forest, leafy and green. Life sprouts from the twigs and branches of the old, twisted trees. In the humid, morning heat, midges were abundant, silently irritating - biting exposed flesh. Even with burning sunshine baking the treetops, the forest floor held shadows. It was silent apart from the gentle buzz of hoverflies and honeybees. <br />
<br />
Between light and dark, coolness and heat stood a lithe young male, arching upwards and backwards, his own limbs mimicking the tree on which he tiptoed, blended, connected and in balance – with everything. He remained unbitten, unfazed and confident in his masculinity and strength. He moved away from me swiftly, gracefully, focussed on his search for Eve.
    Almost Eve
  • Early morning fog hovers over a rural Anglesey landscape and old church, between Talwrn and Pentraeth on the isle of Anglesey. As the sun rose the fog became mist and then gradually evaporated and disappeared.
    GD001645.jpg
  • Early morning fog hovers over a rural Anglesey landscape and old church, between Talwrn and Pentraeth on the isle of Anglesey. As the sun rose the fog became mist and then gradually evaporated and disappeared.
    GD001596.jpg
  • These ancient cobbles seem to have existed for hundreds of years at this North Yorkshire fishing village, and can be seen in all the old postcards and vintage photographs of the area. At night, long shadows from fences surrounding historical public houses stretch out across the cobbles towards the darkness and the moonlit landscape beyond.
    GD001510.jpg
  • The large limestone stepping stones of Rhydd Gaer (The Blood Fort) , cross the Afon Braint River south of the village of Dwyran on Anglesey. The river itself leads to the Braint Estuary where it joins the Menai Strait and Caernarfon Bay. There is little agreed information about the history of these historical stones<br />
<br />
"A young funny, dynamic 19 year old friend of ours has been missing since Christmas, and this river is his river, well in my mind it is, as it flows from his village to the sea. I was thinking about how lucky I am to simply be here, to breathe, to see, to live. The sunshine was sparkling on the water, the grass was lush and green, clouds scudded across a now clear sky and there was a cool crispness to the air, my fingers felt it, my face felt it, every bit of me was now awake and invigorated, but I wish I knew what had happened to the lad. We all think we know but nobody dares say anything, living in hope that our worst fears are proved wrong. It has been very hard for me to be near the sea since his disappearance. I have titled the image above in dedication to our young friend, and I cling to the hope that one day he will see it for himself."
    GD001177.jpg
  • The large limestone stepping stones of Rhydd Gaer (The Blood Fort) , cross the Afon Braint River south of the village of Dwyran on Anglesey. The river itself leads to the Braint Estuary where it joins the Menai Strait and Caernarfon Bay. There is little agreed information about the history of these historical stones<br />
<br />
"A young funny, dynamic 19 year old friend of ours has been missing since Christmas, and this river is his river, well in my mind it is, as it flows from his village to the sea. I was thinking about how lucky I am to simply be here, to breathe, to see, to live. The sunshine was sparkling on the water, the grass was lush and green, clouds scudded across a now clear sky and there was a cool crispness to the air, my fingers felt it, my face felt it, every bit of me was now awake and invigorated, but I wish I knew what had happened to the lad. We all think we know but nobody dares say anything, living in hope that our worst fears are proved wrong. It has been very hard for me to be near the sea since his disappearance. I have titled the image above in dedication to our young friend, and I cling to the hope that one day he will see it for himself."
    GD001176.jpg
  • Nant Ffrancon Pass in a cold winter
    GD001030.jpg
  • It’s impossible for me to walk past the old now abandoned lifeboat house at Penlee, Mousehole without stopping to remember, with great sadness the loss of so many brave, amazing men from one small community. <br />
<br />
The Penlee lifeboat disaster occurred on 19 December 1981 off the coast of Cornwall. The RNLB Solomon Browne went to the aid of the vessel Union Star after its engines failed in heavy seas. After the lifeboat had rescued four people, both vessels were lost with all hands; in all, sixteen people died including eight volunteer lifeboatmen. (From Wiki)<br />
<br />
I was living in Falmouth at the time and the shock across Cornwall and indeed Britain was deep and heartfelt. In school we had assemblies to talk about what had happened to these brave volunteers who risked and lost their own lives to save others. Our communities all felt deep sympathy for the families shattered by the loss of these men. <br />
<br />
To stand above this lifeboat house which was abandoned just two years after the disaster is a direct flashback to that shocking time in my childhood.
    GD002123-BW.jpg
  • Literally being thrown around in the surf near rocks I've grown fond of over the years. They feel familiar, secure, grounding, even in the waves.
    GD002806.jpg
  • Garth Pier, Bangor, in brilliant morning sunshine over a high tide. A wind was howling up the Menai Strait but the sea also had a comforting calmness to it. Garth Pier which was 125 years old in 2021, was voted 2022 Pier of the Year.
    GD002739.jpg
  • On these exposed Welsh hillsides once existed a large granite quarry, blasting rock form various levels to ship to Liverpool. Nowadays the quarry is long gone, the hills are quiet, but amongst the long lush grassy hillsides you come across hundreds of old remains of the industry which once existed here, providing employment and indeed a community for the quarrymen and their families.
    GD001203.jpg
  • Behind an old watermill, sits the huge Wylfa Magnox nuclear power station. It is situated close to Cemaes Bay on the North of the island of Anglesey, North Wales. Its location on the coast provides a cooling source for its operation. It is the world's oldest nuclear power station and became operational in 1971
    GD001185.jpg
  • It was slightly nerve wracking walking out onto this old dissused jetty, with wave after wave splashing over my waist every second or so. It really felt as if I was walking on the surface of the sea at some points, and at others where the jetty had broken, I was walking IN the sea! My camera got soaked, my clothes got soaked but I enjoyed the experience anyway.
    GD002487.jpg
  • UNESCO World Heritage Site<br />
<br />
Just after the fleeting dramatic light a few minutes earlier, bursting through the mizzly blanket above the Welsh hills, a delicate ghostly vapour now enshrouded the deserted quarrymen’s huts high up in the Dinorwic slate quarries.<br />
.<br />
It’s strange studying these old industrial workings, where men blasted away half a mountainside around half a century ago, but I’m also grateful that we have access to this place, and an opportunity to stand and reflect on our history and a way of life long gone, in this country at least. If we don’t consider the past, how can we possibly learn how to go forwards?
    GD002340.jpg
  • At this rocky point lay dozens of sleepy seals, young and old, enjoying the evening sunlight and soaking up the warm rays. The fish are bountiful here and I watched two of the seals play with fish before devouring them. This pup was so chilled that I was within a few feet of him before he even raised an eyebrow. I’d loved to have seen the Southern Right Whales this bay is famous for, but sadly we were there in the wrong season.
    GD002292.jpg
  • I don’t even know how it got there but a way off the dirt track had slumped this old truck, its faded layers of eroded paintwork peppered with shot-gun holes. <br />
<br />
Abandoned and left to nature and the elements, this vehicle jolted within me the recognition that nothing lasts forever, that eventually everything becomes dust, but in the meantime is a marker for own place along that road, literally.
    GD002255.jpg
  • As is the way with my days off these days, there is no rush ever. Jan works long days and even longer nights in an intensive care department and there is NO shift pattern at all to allow a person’s body clock to plan the week. Her need for sleep catch up is vital, so I have learned not to expect a 7am leap out of bed, and instead to respect her body clock readjustment time. It doesn’t stop me getting fidgety however if the light looks amazing, and the day is going by :-)<br />
<br />
It was Sunday however, and for Jan a rare Sunday off, so whatever! The weather forecast was for brightness, light cloud, zero chance of rain and plenty of sunshine later. We could do a lazy leisurely hill walk later with no worries about the elements or timings. I didn’t really absorb the additional information I skimmed through on the mountain weather forecast though, which indicated freezing level at summits and 45mph winds. Nevertheless we threw in our Paramo’s and Rab wind proofs just in case, along with two flasks of steaming hot coffee.<br />
<br />
At about 2pm we started the one hour drive towards the distinctive pyramid shaped mountain called Cnicht. I haven’t done it for couple of years and I love the mountain (approximately 2200 feet). I have done it from the very meandrous North side and also from the shadowy East facing quarry valley of Cwm Orthin, which was today’s plan as I wanted to show Jan the old quarry workings. However, as part of her prep for some bigger mountains in the next few weeks she said she’d prefer a steep ascent, so we headed for Croesor on the brighter West side instead. This was a first for me too which was nice, making our way up the classic West ridge.<br />
<br />
We decided to have a cuppa and a sandwich in the cafe in the tiny, sleepy hamlet of Croesor but the cafe was so asleep it was closed! I was really surprised, this being the Easter break and a car park packed with walkers’ vehicles. We started up the long, bouldery woodland track before exiting right up towards
    GD001734.jpg
  • As is the way with my days off these days, there is no rush ever. Jan works long days and even longer nights in an intensive care department and there is NO shift pattern at all to allow a person’s body clock to plan the week. Her need for sleep catch up is vital, so I have learned not to expect a 7am leap out of bed, and instead to respect her body clock readjustment time. It doesn’t stop me getting fidgety however if the light looks amazing, and the day is going by :-)<br />
<br />
It was Sunday however, and for Jan a rare Sunday off, so whatever! The weather forecast was for brightness, light cloud, zero chance of rain and plenty of sunshine later. We could do a lazy leisurely hill walk later with no worries about the elements or timings. I didn’t really absorb the additional information I skimmed through on the mountain weather forecast though, which indicated freezing level at summits and 45mph winds. Nevertheless we threw in our Paramo’s and Rab wind proofs just in case, along with two flasks of steaming hot coffee.<br />
<br />
At about 2pm we started the one hour drive towards the distinctive pyramid shaped mountain called Cnicht. I haven’t done it for couple of years and I love the mountain (approximately 2200 feet). I have done it from the very meandrous North side and also from the shadowy East facing quarry valley of Cwm Orthin, which was today’s plan as I wanted to show Jan the old quarry workings. However, as part of her prep for some bigger mountains in the next few weeks she said she’d prefer a steep ascent, so we headed for Croesor on the brighter West side instead. This was a first for me too which was nice, making our way up the classic West ridge.<br />
<br />
We decided to have a cuppa and a sandwich in the cafe in the tiny, sleepy hamlet of Croesor but the cafe was so asleep it was closed! I was really surprised, this being the Easter break and a car park packed with walkers’ vehicles. We started up the long, bouldery woodland track before exiting right up towards
    GD001733.jpg
  • Surprisingly, with the beautiful Telford’s Suspension Bridge carrying dozens of morning commuters’ vehicles every minute, there was a peaceful serenity down here at the water's edge. I stood on the gritty shoreline and watched as the calm water silently rose up my boots towards my ankles, visible, discernible a creeping cleansing of everything in its path. <br />
<br />
Oystercatchers called from a nearby drowning mud flat after being disturbed from their slumber in the warm morning sunshine.  I could hear the sound of the tide as it surged past the huge arches stood steadfast in the Menai Strait. <br />
<br />
Intermittent puffs of smoke rose from the old waterside cottage, its timber panels faintly creaking as they warmed.  No one appeared at the windows and no one could be seen walking the bridge and even the dog walkers of the Belgian Prom seemed absent. There was a sense of tranquillity in this normally busy spot.
    GD002146.jpg
  • I crouched in the warm water as a breeze ruffled the surface of the pool. The weed covered ribs of an old Greek shipwreck, the Athena, glowed in the late afternoon sunlight as the first cool clouds of flog made their appearance from the North.
    GD002055.jpg
  • Incredible mixture of old and new, contemporary and classical, land and sea, light and dark but always an inescapable and intrinsic link to Liverpool’s maritime past
    GD002017.jpg
  • An old tallship in Liverpool’s Albert Dock, contrasts strikingly against the huge modern developements behind
    GD002015.jpg
  • The old lighthouse, Twr Mawr can be seen beyond this end of four small cottages on Llanddwyn Island, Anglesey, which were built for the pilots who went out to meet boats needing to navigate into the ports further up the Menai Strait. This island was the home of Saint Dwynwen, the Welsh Patron Saint of Love. Llanddwyn Island is also an extension of the Newborough Nature Reserve.
    GD001931.jpg
  • The remains of St. Helen's Oratory, which date back as far as Roman times according to one observer, is a tiny early Christian chapel located in a field at Cape Cornwall.
    GD001875.jpg
  • In an old woodland deep in the heart of ancient Britain, a young couple lie together upon deep, lush moss, under a delicate winter canopy of spindly trees. The air is cold and the sunlight weak, but in it’s low rays the lovers hold each other close, sharing body warmth through intimate touch. As they make the closest connection possible in this magical, enchanted forest, silently observed by the spirits of people and community gone by, they don’t feel the cold, only life, love and peace.
    Enchanted
  • An old, small packhorse bridge crosses the Afon Nodwydd river running down from Pentraeth village to Traeth Coch, (Red Wharf Bay), Anglesey. At high tide the grasses here are completely covered and the tide retreats almost a mile to the low tide mark.
    GD001696.jpg
  • These ancient cobbles seem to have existed for hundreds of years at this North Yorkshire fishing village, and can be seen in all the old postcards and vintage photographs of the area. It was strange to see this historical architectural construction being pummelled by the North Sea, and to imagine how many people in times gone by had stood and watched the sea perform its powers of erosion
    GD001508.jpg
  • Hundreds of years of human history can still be clearly seen in this small Yorkshire seaside  village of Robin Hood's Bay - the cobbled narrow streets and old, fishermen's houses now shelter visitors and holiday makers but the memories of past culture and past times is potent and unspoiled.
    GD001509.jpg
  • Although I am as guilty as the next person of renting holiday cottages, it is nevertheless such a great pity that these historical and stunningly beautiful buildings are no longer lived/worked in.<br />
<br />
I have seen old photographs of fisher-women in these doorways but now it's only colourful transient tourists who bring any sign of life to buildings which have witnessed so much history.
    GD001079.jpg
  • Vila Franca do Campo off season, deserted and lonely, dark and windswept. The sound of an occasional dog bark was heard over the sound of the relentless waves and an old man shuffled along an otherwise empty street.
    GD000612.jpg
  • Nominated in 2022 International Colour Awards<br />
<br />
Wonderful colours in this old & dilapidated diamond-mine building. The hole in the floor was a most surreal illusion.
    GD002290.jpg
  • In an abandoned quarry village, high up in the windswept mountains of Wales, sits a derelict old chapel with it's roof timbers now collapsing inwards but still pointing skywards. It is only the spirit of the workmen in this busy slate quarry that remains, the valley is silent and desolate.<br />
<br />
Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site
    GD001175.jpg
Next
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Glyn Davies, Professional Photographer and Gallery

  • Portfolio
  • CLICK TO SEE ALL IMAGES
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • About Glyn
  • Awards & Media
  • Print & Delivery Info
  • Exhibitions
  • Interviews & Books
  • Contact
  • Privacy & Personal Data
  • LATEST NEWS