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  • Second of six images from my 'Genesis' series within the larger "Landscape Figures" project. <br />
<br />
In current times we are seeing an explosion of population and an unsustainable demand for the Earth’s resources. We are in an era when self-interest, greed, power, conflict and indifference rule over tolerance, compassion and love. By now as a species, we should be living in harmony with others and our planet. I often ponder upon why we never really learn, and whether anything would be any different if mankind had the chance to start all over again.<br />
<br />
This small set of images is just an imaginary glimpse of two ordinary people, a man and a woman, both naked as the day they were born, finding love and happiness together on a planet budding with new life. This story doesn’t have a sting in the tail. This story begins and will end with harmony between people and their environment. It is just a little gasp of hope within the current darkness.
    She shall be called Woman
  • After a two hour slog up from sea-level valley to mountain top, loaded with photo gear & warm clothing, we were made to feel humble by a young woman climbing to the summit itself. Her pale soft skin contrasted with the sharp, rough rock but with such purpose, grace and balance, as if a slow motion dance, we could see her muscles working as she pulled, stepped into and lay-backed the arete before standing tall at the highest point to feel the cool mountain-top breeze caressing her hot skin. Below, we huddled up and drank coffee and ate sandwiches.
    Woman Ascending
  • Winning entry in the 2019 (31st) SUN Shot up North Awards<br />
<br />
International Color Awards 2015 - Nominee in "Abstract" category<br />
<br />
Pixellated Woman Playing is the shadow of a nude woman catching a large ring
    GD001834.jpg
  • Fit blonde woman starting the famous and difficut hiking trail down the Masca Barranco Gorge in Tenerife which leads from the high mountain village of Masca down to the Atlantic Ocean at Masca Beach.
    GD001764.jpg
  • Fit blonde woman tying shoelace during the decent of the famous and difficut hiking trail down the Masca Barranco Gorge in Teneriffe. This trail leads from the high mountain village of Masca down to the Atlantic Ocean at Masca Beach.
    GD001765.jpg
  • On her stone pulpit in the middle of vast open moorland stood a proud woman, her long hair blowing in the wind. It was as if she were addressing a crowd but she held her hands before her, covering her womanhood. I loved the contradiction. She became aware that I was watching and so as not to to cause her any awkwardness I started to walk away. She glanced at me for a few moments, studying me, before turning her head back towards the dark clouds now sweeping in from the sea.
    Studied
  • In such unsettled, and in many ways dark times for the future of the human species, and nature in general, this image represents a visual snapshot of a reality. We are fundamentally nothing more than small organic creatures, a part of nature but not bigger than it or more important than it. The air, the water and the earth nourish us and give us life yet the more we divide the land, obsess about money, material goods, wealth, power, domination and war, the more we destroy nature, the environment and ultimately ourselves. Is there any other species that so knowingly destroys what it needs to exist. Look at the woman, study the tiny human figure and then look at the bigger picture, the earth itself. If such an intelligent species can bring about it’s own destruction, then it really will be a brave new world for whatever survives.
    Brave New World
  • "It was too early in the year for the Skylarks, that take off in haste from #moorland grasses, singing for their lives after being disturbed. On this cold Spring evening, within a natural bed of lush grass, lay resting a delicate, #naked woman. I asked her if she was OK and she said “Yes, it’s surprisingly warm here in my nest, but thank you for asking”. The sun disappeared behind the distant hills, the air cooled dramatically and the woman closed her eyes, and slept"
    Nesting Season
  • Born in Africa this young woman is at home where the wind-blown desert sands meet the cold Atlantic ocean. She feels at one with this place. She revels in the mixed sensations of the burning heat on her torso, gales tossing her hair and even the stinging of the sharp sand against her ankles. She hears the sound of heavy waves piling on the vast shoreline and she can hear Terns calling high in the sky above. Behind her, a tablecloth of swirling cloud builds over the mountains, marking the zone where the warm Agulhas Current of the Indian Ocean meets the cold Benguela current of the Atlantic. This is a vast and unforgiving landscape but it is hers and she owns it.
    Burning Hot in African Winds
  • SUN (Shot Up North) Awards 2015<br />
1 of my 4 winning entries <br />
<br />
International MONO Awards 2014 - Honourable Mention <br />
<br />
"I was lost in a forest and I felt alone and hemmed in. As I stood there feeling isolated, I heard the sound of snapping twigs and from out of the foggy fortress appeared a beautiful, powerful young woman but she struggled, ducking, twisting & contorting to avoid the sharp daggers all about her. As I watched her muscles work and flex to overcome obstacles, I realised just how tenacious we can be"
    Suffering Needles
  • A blonde woman relaxing on a golden yellow sandy beach in the summer at Caneiros, Algarve, Portugal, watching the Atlantic waves crash on the shoreline with a limestone sea stack in the distance.
    GD001837.jpg
  • Selected Print for the IN:SIGHT (Washington Green) New Artists Competition 2015<br />
<br />
International MONO Awards 2014 - Honourable Mention <br />
<br />
"In the beginning there was just rock - and then water - black lifeless water. There were no plants or birds or trees just a planet in waiting.<br />
<br />
Dark water moves from ocean to gully, almost imperceptibly, and a woman takes tentative steps towards the light”
    Movement Above Inky Depths
  • "The contrast between the sharpness of the huge rocky cliff and the delicate fragility of the female form in this image creates a tension - not just from the fear of cuts and slices from the knife-like edges, but also due to the apparent melancholy of the woman with such colourful sunlit surroundings. You'd think she was a modern day cavewoman but really, as Summer draws close she represents a wide held feeling or sadness about returning home after the universal joy of travel, sunshine and warmth, We all dream about our next naked adventure in the great outdoors before we have even finished the present"
    GD001831.jpg
  • GD001711.jpg
  • In this lonely valley nestles a large but often calm lake. Reeds puncture the glassy smooth surface and there is silence, apart from the occasional bleating of Welsh mountain sheep, or the call of a raven over the hillsides. This woman is so bird-like in stature, so graceful and slim that she reminds me of the heron which frequents this place. She stands motionless on her rock, mimicking the beautiful bird, ready to dive at a moments notice, but in the meantime just embraces the gentle warmth of the afternoon sun.
    The Diver
  • There is little more exhilarating than being in the great outdoors alone, and at peace with everything, relishing the sensations and awareness of existence. The woman had been floating on her back in a wind-blown tidal pool, carefully balancing her breathing to maintain a wondrous equilibrium - and then a figure appeared on the rocks above, nothing sinister or malicious, just a passer by, but in that one moment her physical & spiritual connection to nature and the universe was abruptly halted, brought down to a basic plain of human modesty & societal expectations.
    Solitude Interrupted
  • The sea was at summer temperatures, but a sharp cool wind raced offshore, cooling the wet skin rapidly. She had spent several hours in the water now, laying on her back in deep tidal pools, swimming in the ocean and now exhausted just enjoying the feelings of a river beneath her as it flowed from coastal valley to open sea. <br />
<br />
This woman studies the ocean and the creatures within, she knows about it and experiences it up close and intimately. She loves the ocean and of course as we all are back in time, she is from the ocean.
    From the Ocean
  • A woman walks barefoot past Faro Castle, taking a last look at the light before entering the shadows.
    Barefoot Before the Castle - Faro/Po..ugal
  • Fifth of six images from my 'Genesis' series within the larger "Landscape Figures" project. <br />
<br />
In current times we are seeing an explosion of population and an unsustainable demand for the Earth’s resources. We are in an era when self-interest, greed, power, conflict and indifference rule over tolerance, compassion and love. By now as a species, we should be living in harmony with others and our planet. I often ponder upon why we never really learn, and whether anything would be any different if mankind had the chance to start all over again.<br />
<br />
This small set of images is just an imaginary glimpse of two ordinary people, a man and a woman, both naked as the day they were born, finding love and happiness together on a planet budding with new life. This story doesn’t have a sting in the tail. This story begins and will end with harmony between people and their environment. It is just a little gasp of hope within the current darkness.
    And then there was Light
  • The Water Margin<br />
<br />
Water represents so many things to different people & different cultures but without doubt, the sea surface is an interface to a different world, a world in which we can’t survive as a human without man made help, other than exploring a few feet of the surface for short periods of time. For many water-goers what lies beneath remains an often irrational fear, especially in the safer waters of the UK, and one of those fears is being touched by seaweed from the depths below. So in this image a woman confronts her fears, immersing herself in the rock-strewn, choppy, dark, seaweed-abundant cove, stretching herself so that every inch of her naked body remains in contact with the very things that conjure anxiety. As she rolls and turns with each small wave and feels the weed embracing her limbs, she understands that the very things she feared were in reality something to celebrate.
    The Water Margin
  • After years of incubation within the protective forest, a woman slowly emerged and began to make sense of her connection to her mother, Earth, and life itself.
    The Hatching
  • Over centuries, Mên-an-Tol has been associated with myths and folklore. Some of the more widespread legends are that if a woman passes naked through the holed stone seven times backwards during a full moon, she will become pregnant. It has also been used over generations to try & cure children of rickets, by passing them naked nine times through the hole in the stone. Locally however, Mên-an-Tol’s reputation for curing back problems earned it the name of “Crick Stone” Whatever rituals have gone before, my ritual is to pay this wonderfully surreal ancient site a visit, usually in moody weather.
    Sacrifice
  • Over centuries, Mên-an-Tol, locally known as the Crick Stone, has been associated with myths and folklore. Some of the more widespread legends are that if a woman passes naked through the holed stone seven times backwards during a full moon, she will become pregnant. It has also been used over generations to try & cure children of rickets, by passing them naked nine times through the hole in the stone. Whatever rituals have gone before, my ritual is to pay this wonderfully surreal ancient site a visit, usually in moody weather.
    The Hole
  • Down in the valley, in an isolated farmhouse, paces a shadowy man. Torn between living a depressing reality, trapped by the expectations of ‘normal’ society, or crossing into another existence with his exciting, passionate wild woman, waiting for him high up on the windswept moors. Will he strip himself of his dark clothes and find true happiness, freedom, and peace with her or will he remain weak & shackled like so many others, unable to find their true destiny?
    Weathering Heights
  • Nominated for 11th International B&W Spider Awards<br />
<br />
<br />
After a two hour slog up from sea-level valley to mountain top, loaded with photo gear & warm clothing, we were made to feel humble by a young woman climbing nude to the summit itself. Her pale soft skin contrasted with the sharp, rough rock but with such purpose, grace and balance, as if a slow motion dance, we could see her muscles working as she pulled, stepped into and lay-backed the arete before standing tall at the highest point to feel the cool mountain-top breeze caressing her hot skin. Below her, we huddled up and drank coffee and ate sandwiches.
    The Arete
  • On a high narrow pinnacle, hundreds of feet above the sea, backed by even larger towering cliffs behind, appears the tiny, fragile figure of a woman. Even though the wind is gusting, buffeting her, she stands resolutely facing the ocean. She is at the most westerly point of land and without assistance can go no further. She has reached a human boundary; the sea is not our domain. Cries of seagulls echo warnings in the nearby zawn.<br />
<br />
The sharp lichen thriving in the clean sea air covers every inch of the gritty platform on which she stands. She feels it digging into the soles of her feet as she ponders the vast expanse of water before her. Beyond that on the distant horizon, her Avalon, from where dreams have appeared to her in powerful waves.
    Light at Lands End
  • 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
  • In a beam of gentle winter sunlight, a woman lies between cold, smooth boulders revealed at low tide. Her body heat slowly warms the stone bed until equilibrium is achieved, and the earth recognises her, as she recognises the universe.
    Warmth-Amongst-Cold-Boulders.jpg
  • Landscape Figures project
    Emergence from Darkness
  • "She was in that state between deep sleep and first opening of the eyes. She was resting in a remote cove and the early morning sunlight spilled over the headland and across her figure. Even for a mermaid the warm sunshine is always welcome and she could feel its life giving energy as she stirred"
    GD002195.jpg
  • It's too easy to make mistakes when we think we've nearly finished. Complacency and over-confidence are often our downfall, and we must never take our eyes off where we are going if we are to realise our final objective. <br />
<br />
<br />
"Landscape Figures" explores the relationship between organic human figures and a notional 'wild landscape'. Although the nude is vital to the project and integral within the images, the images are not just ‘nudes’ – they are landscapes and stories. In a way they are just simple, beautiful, dreamlike visual questions
    Final Moves
  • As the weeks passed, the crowds disappeared, and by the last day of Autumn the beach was empty.<br />
<br />
Gentle but cold Northerly winds blew across the vast open sands and the only sounds she could hear were the crashing waves and the shrill call of an Oystercatcher across the sea. <br />
<br />
The water was cold now, and her memories of basking naked with friends in the summer heat seemed an eternity away from her lonely ponder along the shore today …. And yet, her need for the ocean, to feel the sand beneath her feet and the breeze in her hair remained a yearning within her, a place for her soul to feel connected to the planet. She was grinning despite the transition to winter.
    Winter's Coming
  • After the harshness of the crags and cliff sides, the angular edges of the quarried levels and the tidy angles of the village itself, these large and beautifully rounded boulders seemed almost organic, and the way they spaced themselves evenly across the fine pebbles of the beach gave them a lifelike character of their own. It was hard to resist simply running my hands over the beautiful smooth curves, much as you would with a Henry Moore sculpture.
    GD000795.jpg
  • Dark Waters<br />
<br />
Surrounded by winter darkness her body-heat drained into the dark lake. She felt the soft waves against her legs, inching more warmth from her core, and yet still, she craved the downpour; she needed to feel the sting of the hail on her flesh and she leaned backwards to prepare herself for the sensation. Was this masochism; a penance; or something more earthly, more akin to an aching need to confirm you exist and that life & death is real and without schedule?
    Dark Waters
  • Landscape Figures project
    Sparkling Spring Water
  • "She was in that state between deep sleep and first opening of the eyes. She was resting in a remote cove and the early morning sunlight spilled over the headland and across her figure. Even for a mermaid the warm sunshine is always welcome and she could feel its life giving energy as she stirred"
    GD002159.jpg
  • "She was confused. She’d fallen into a deep sleep in a remote cove but as the morning sun broke over the shadowy headland she realised she was now in the open and clearly visible.<br />
.<br />
When she saw me huddled against the nearby rocks hiding from the biting Northerly wind, she froze and then scowled at me. She hadn’t been exposed to a man before but I talked reassuringly to her, and she soon came to understand that I posed no threat.<br />
.<br />
For maybe twenty minutes she alternated between swimming around the pool and pulling herself up onto the boulders to talk with me. She seemed to enjoy conversation. She loved her newfound confidence in being open in front of a man and she didn’t shy away as I asked her questions. I studied her as she studied me and we had an understanding of the fascination in each other.<br />
.<br />
As waves started crashing in on the advancing tide, she swam to the far end of the pool. She studied me intently one last time and with a flick of her powerful tail she leapt the rock barrier into the ocean and she was gone. I knew though that as our paths had now crossed, this wouldn’t be our only encounter with each other, and I was right"
    GD002141.jpg
  • Shadows of a couple in a swimming pool.
    GD001836.jpg
  • Only available as A4 and A3 open prints, and also A2 Limited Editions
    GD001966.jpg
  • Overcoming Barriers
  • Sensuous Appreciation
  • Within the huge stone void appeared a light, weak and indistinct initially, but to eyes only accustomed to darkness this was like the sun itself. Before this moment there was nothing but contemplation, but now there was a way to escape. She slowly manoeuvred over slippery rock towards the small, narrow hole and squeezed through the gap into a larger and wider tunnel. This led easily and directly to a bright, noisy world beyond with all manner of new experiences to embrace. This image features a real, strange place and the experience was very much as described.
    Rebirth
  • It’s easy to convince ourselves that somehow we are above nature, invincible, that death itself is something we can avoid if we just think positively. Sadly we are destroying nature, destroying our planet, and destroying ourselves. Our actions are creating catastrophes and we haven’t even learned how to live together as a species. We are nothing more than vulnerable, easily damaged organic creatures that walk a tightrope between happiness and sadness, health and sickness, hungry or full, life or death. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all we had to fear was the illusion of threat, not the the reality of what lies behind threat! Wouldn’t it be lovely if we didn’t have to fear man himself?
    Tired of Threats
  • Landscape Figures project
    Contemplation
  • A tree torn from the ground became a vessel on the ocean, before being left high and dry on a Spring tide. The roots that anchored this living organism, that kept it upright and strong are now just a twisted mass of dead truncated limbs but this once was a thing of great beauty. She lay supine across it’s lifeless trunk, feeling the still coarse bark pressing into her living flesh, creating sensation long after it's death. Her own feet touched the soft grass and she felt the breeze ruffling her long hair. The wood was warm, heated by the same sunshine that bathed her own torso; life and death sharing the same light; the same energy; the same space and with their limbs intertwined, almost the same form.
    Morpheus Dream
  • "I was off the beaten track amongst acres of dark, ancient trees. As is often the case in these environments, it's possible to 'sense' clearings in the forest simply by watching out for changes in illumination. These open windows burn with light from the skies above so I headed in that direction. She was lithe, sensuous and beautiful, basking on a lichen-covered rock. She luxuriated in the contrast between the cool stone beneath her arched back and the warmth of afternoon sunshine bathing her loins.<br />
<br />
She was alone in her own space, far from the multitudes, simply enjoying the wonder of the nature around her.  Nothing concerned her for she was the apex creature in this world. A Stonechat chirped in the distance and two Ravens called to each other in flight above. Tiny summer flies moved silently from shadows to light and the sound of bees collecting pollen, hummed in the still air.
    The Lioness
  • Nominee in Nude / B&W Spider Awards 2017<br />
<br />
She was confused. She’d fallen into a deep sleep in a remote cove but as the morning sun broke over the shadowy headland she realised she was now in the open and clearly visible. <br />
<br />
When she saw me huddled against the nearby rocks hiding from the biting Northerly wind, she froze and then scowled at me. She hadn’t been exposed to a man before but I talked reassuringly to her, and she soon came to understand that I posed no threat. <br />
<br />
For maybe twenty minutes she alternated between swimming around the pool and pulling herself up onto the boulders to talk with me. She seemed to enjoy conversation. She loved her newfound confidence in being open in front of a man and she didn’t shy away as I asked her questions. I studied her as she studied me and we had an understanding of the fascination in each other. <br />
  <br />
As waves started crashing in on the advancing tide, she swam to the far end of the pool. She studied me intently one last time and with a flick of her powerful tail she leapt the rock barrier into the ocean and she was gone.  I knew though that as our paths had now crossed, this wouldn’t be our only encounter with each other, and I was right.
    GD002140.jpg
  • Youngsters play and walk their dogs on the stunning windswept West coast beach of Melkbosstrand, North of Cape Town, South Africa
    GD002116.jpg
  • Nominated in 10th (2017) International Colour Awards (People category)
    GD001654.jpg
  • The irresistible ocean from whence we came, draws us to it still. We stand, bathe, swim in the zone, the border to our very beginnings but now an alien environment. When I stand in the waves it’s so much more than just a physical experience; my mind too is somehow communicating with something really ancient, yet still so real, so permanent, so life affirming.
    Sensuous Overload
  • “Although the nude is vital to the project and integral within the images, the images are not just ‘nudes’ – they are landscapes and stories. In a way they are just simple, beautiful, dreamlike visual questions”.
    Falling.jpg
  • 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
  • Faults within faults, shadows form in darkness. The nude woman gently tests her footing on the slippery rock at the base of the cave, gripping hard edges to steady herself as she moves further into the vast wet chamber. Over millennia the force of the sea has exposed, pummelled and forced open the soft veins of this ancient stone but amazingly, in what seems almost perpetual night, life clings to the ribbed surfaces far inside. Sounds of the day are muffled, save for the relentless roar of the waves at low tide. It’s cool in here and the woman shivers in the damp air, her skin and muscles taut, her senses heightened to the strange environment. <br />
<br />
In a moment she finds herself wading through a deep, smooth-bottomed pool and she inhales sharply as the water pushes between her open thighs. The water shallows and she feels painful hard pebbles and small boulders beneath her delicate feet. She is almost invisible now and only the crunching sound of the shingle reveals her location.  Then there is silence for a short while. As my eyes adjust, a gentle prick of light pierces the darkness beyond and gradually becomes more distinct. I now realise this is not just a cave it’s a tunnel. Across the small circle of light moves the slender silhouette of the woman and in a blink of the eye she was gone.
    The Dark Cave
  • Selected Print for the IN:SIGHT (Washington Green) New Artists Competition 2015<br />
<br />
Nominee in 10th Annual Black & White Spider Awards<br />
<br />
"The woman stood motionless, or so it seemed, her feet slowly sinking into the sticky black leaf litter below the surface. There was hardly a breeze, no movement, just the occasional chirp from the Summer’s last Swallow, breaking the silence at this mountain lake. But when you look closely, you see ripples oscillating away from the woman’s body, continuing almost imperceptibly across the lake. Her energy, her life force was affecting the landscape in a clearly visible, tangible way, utter connection between our living organic form and the earth we come from.”
    Swallowed by the Lake
  • The wind was blowing in from the west and with it came drizzle. The lake was vast and waves fetched from the persistent breeze. The reeds rustled as they bent in the gusts towards the figure of a beautiful young woman.<br />
<br />
I stood in the darkness of the forest edge, watching nature move all about me. The boughs of the trees creaking, twigs snapping against each other and even the sound of the tiny surf crashing on the lakeshore. The woman seemed to be the only motionless object in this blustery, dull weather.
    At The Lake Side
  • Nominee in 10th Annual Black & White Spider Awards<br />
<br />
International MONO Awards 2014 - Honourable Mention <br />
<br />
"This is the land of legends & spirits, this is the land of tribes & survival. <br />
<br />
Between two ancient mountains lies a bog, black and peaty, a cold trap. As dusk approaches and heavy weather moves over the peaks, a striking, powerful woman turns her head to the last rays of weak sunlight. As she moves, her pale body slowly sinks into the dark skin of the hill, the hill on which she was born half a century before"
    Before Darkness
  • Glimpses of sunshine - patches of fast-moving light scudding across the striking ridges of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and its foothills. First warm rays - an ultraviolet shower between snow-clad peaks. Perfect company and amongst this theatrical majesty, a young woman’s first illuminating and exhilarating ascent of a Welsh mountain
    GD002006
  • Nominated for 11th International B&W Spider Awards<br />
<br />
“The wind blew hard across the rolling landscape but the winter rain drove harder, stabbing the skin of the earth and the flesh of the figure. The sky grew dark and the hills blackened, but a gentle beam of light continued to illuminate the woman, outstretched on the dune. A firm arm of soft sand pressed into her back, supporting her and the new life now growing inside her, positioning her to face the universe”
    Sensual Landscape
  • In this lonely valley nestles a large but often calm lake. Reeds puncture the glassy smooth surface and there is silence, apart from the occasional bleating of Welsh mountain sheep, or the call of a raven over the hillsides. This woman is so bird-like in stature, so graceful and so slim, that she reminds me of the heron which frequents this place. She delicately points each foot into the lake so as not to overly disturb its surface and even in the act of doing this mimics the beautiful creature. She turns to face the light, her front feeling the gentle warmth of the afternoon sun, as the cold water clasps her legs. She stands motionless, embracing these sensations as I watch her.
    Sensual Immersion
  • The air was warm but the sea was cool. A weak sunburst gently broke through the gloom on the horizon. There was hardly a drop of wind over the calm green sea so the wave surfaces were smooth and glassy. <br />
<br />
There were a handful of motionless, statue-like figures at the water’s edge, small posts of resistance against the incoming tide, but one woman stood out. She was beautiful; lightly tanned skin; petite but womanly figure; long, wet, bedraggled hair and clearly the most youthful of shoreline sculptures. Her head was tilted backwards so she could neither see behind her, nor me watching. I noticed an almost imperceptible tremble in her limbs as the wave energy approached her. Involuntarily her figure lifted as she rose to her feet whilst the wave wrapped higher around her legs, from calves, to thighs to buttocks - her arms tensed, balancing herself but also in defiance of the coolness of the water engulfing her body. As the wave fizzled on the sandy shoreline her body relaxed once more, before repeating the process. We often fear what we can’t see, but so often the unexpected can bring delight, excitement and the thrill of the new; of being alive and connected to the earth and water.<br />
<br />
From my "Landscape Figures" project
    GD001412.jpg
  • SUN (Shot Up North) Awards 2015<br />
1 of my 4 winning entries <br />
<br />
Selected Print for the IN:SIGHT (Washington Green) New Artists Competition 2015<br />
<br />
International MONO Awards 2014 - Honourable Mention <br />
<br />
"Alone on a mountain top, surrounded by swirling cloud and the threat of heavy rain, a healthy young woman, soft and curvaceous, cowers from the elements in a rough, sharp, rocky outcrop. She is vulnerable, tiny and organic, but she also looks strong, inquisitive, almost daring - what if she were to face the weather, to leave her scant shelter? To stand naked on a wind blown summit, wrapped in vapour and then rain, is liberating in the extreme - a time to feel utterly exposed yet totally connected at the same moment, never feeling more at one with the great outdoors" 
    The Fear
  • In this variation of 'the beginning', a unique and isolated woman is powerful, assured in her sense of place and happy with her life.<br />
<br />
The man is alone too, existing rather than living. The realisation that he is suddenly not alone intrigues him. He is captivated by the idea of someone to share his world. He struggles up the constantly shifting sand, one step up, two steps back, focussed upon reaching, touching, understanding this strange, beautiful being above him who embraced the elements. <br />
<br />
She absorbs the natural energy and revels in the spirit of her environment, but he finds purpose in his life and will tenaciously overcome anything to make connection with her. Together, although they don’t know it yet, they will be as one, a perfect balance of wisdom, spirituality, tenacity, compassion, affection and emotional need for each other. They will feel love and will have found a new purpose for living. What they instil in their new creation, will determine a parallel world to that in which we now exist, a better world. <br />
<br />
"Landscape Figures" explores the relationship between organic human figures and a notional 'wild landscape'.
    The Approach
  • "I couldn’t work out what was happening. I wasn’t sure whether she had been injured; was being rescued; had died or was being sacrificed! Whatever their purpose, his task was formidable carrying a seemingly lifeless figure up a steep mountain of sharp, rough rock, the sun blazing on his back and every boulder an energy-sapping obstacle to his final goal. It has always intrigued me, that as we go about our own daily lives, often worrying about one thing or another, that other people face their own huge challenges both emotional and physical, that often go unrecognised or appreciated by the rest of society. I just happened to be there at the time to witness this journey of the couple and I just hope the woman was okay. I shouted up to ask if they wanted help but he was oblivious to my call and seemed full of personal intent anyway"
    Ascension
  • Nominated for 11th International B&W Spider Awards<br />
<br />
Innocence in a dark world where being nude outdoors is seen as sinful. That fact that she was conceived by two naked people; born into the world naked, from her mother’s naked body seemed not to have a bearing on her freedom to enjoy this most natural state. As a young child she would run carefree on the open beach, delighting in not having to wear clothes. She saw other children happily playing naked there, equally without sin - just joyful, smiling and friendly - all enjoying an intimate natural connection to the amazing world that they had been introduced to.<br />
<br />
But as her body developed and her breasts grew, she was expected to cover up. The world now saw immorality in her naked maturity; her nudity became frowned upon; people couldn’t bear to acknowledge her new sexuality or even gaze upon her natural form, fearful of their own sexual confusion and self-control. Her beautiful body must always be covered up, never revealed to others. The incredible and life affirming experience of being naked outdoors had become dirty and immoral – both her body and her real character were now hidden.<br />
<br />
Up here on a hillside however, a bright light appeared, slowly burning through the heavy clouds and she found herself nude. She felt the short grass beneath her feet and gentle sunshine on her back as she stretched her naked body once more, revealing herself completely to the earth, the sky and the elements. She stood on tiptoes, aching to be lifted upwards. She wanted to show the world that she was still alive, still innocent, even in her naked form. There was a discernible aura around this woman and I sensed her natural existence had just been spiritually validated.
    The Revelation
  • Honourable Mention in 10th Annual Black & White Spider Awards<br />
<br />
"As I child I would spend hours rock-pooling, fascinated by the secret life within its depths, a microcosm of the ocean itself but these days the rock pools are sadly, symptomatically emptier. At low tide on this rugged coast I was therefore truly delighted to discover a woman sensuously enjoying flotation in a breeze blown rockpool, as she considered the universe above"
    Life in Rock Pools
  • Nominee in 10th Annual Black & White Spider Awards<br />
<br />
SUN (Shot Up North) Awards 2015<br />
1 of my 4 winning entries <br />
<br />
A winning entry in the MOMA Wales Tabernacle Art Competition 2015<br />
<br />
International MONO Awards 2014 - Honourable Mention <br />
<br />
Selected Print for the IN:SIGHT (Washington Green) New Artists Competition 2015<br />
<br />
_______________________________________<br />
<br />
On a rocky mountain summit a young woman was about to fly. It was the first time she'd been up a mountain and the first time she'd truly 'felt' her world. Before taking off she revealed more.<br />
<br />
She said that being naked made her feel truly connected to landscape. To be able to feel wind and rain, warmth and cold; to feel stone beneath your feet and wind in your hair. The truth of existence.
    First Flight
  • This is one of my rare naughty nudes, because the woman was a boundary pusher. She had a wicked glint in her eyes and even though I had planned my own narrative for this image, she decided to adopt this pose. I love the way she took my idea and extended it with her own sexuality.<br />
<br />
This image is about the irony of her situation, coming to a halt at the top of a sheer cliff face, fearful and uncertain about how to proceed.  Immediately behind her is dark woodland, full of spirits and shadowy characters. Her pose, however, is brazen, exposed and even inviting danger from the darkness.
    The Drop
  • International Colour Awards 2015 - Honourable Mention in "Nudes" category<br />
<br />
Life and death are intrinsically linked. The woman lies at the entrance to a womb and a tomb. The gigantic boulder moves in this tiny cove, sometimes blocking the tomb entrance and other times completely exposing Mother Earth. Her delicate figure may just have been born of the bleeding land, or maybe is ready for the next journey, awaiting the hand that will lift her lifeless form and free her spirit.
    On The Third Day
  • Nominated image in the 13th Black & White Spider Awards 2018<br />
<br />
The early morning light shimmered off the wet sands of the estuary. Noisy waders skimmed over the wide flats in the hunt for feeding grounds. Dark clouds brewed ominously on the horizon behind us and gathered slowly over the mountain peaks.<br />
.<br />
The woman had walked towards me from the distant sand dunes, aware that the tide was rising rapidly, flooding the expanse of the bay behind her. She stood at the water’s edge, long grasses puncturing the the smooth mirror rising around her. She felt the first chill of the breeze from the weather front and clasped herself, yet the sea was still warm after summer rays. She gently, though purposefully stirred the water with her feet, crossing one leg in front of the other as she did so, enjoying the sensation of liquid resistance against her skin. I studied the ripples flowing away from her, small waves of her spiritual energy connecting with me and the shoreline. As the tide rose to her thighs the mud softened beneath her. Under now darkening skies she continued on her journey, passing me by and heading for the sheltered woodland behind me.<br />
<br />
Taken whilst being filmed for the ITV series ‘The Strait’ being broadcast from 5th January 2018
    Gently Stirring the Tide
  • A woman reflects upon her age, and her role in her relationship
    The Hourglass
  • Nominee in Nude / B&W Spider Awards 2017<br />
<br />
There is always something special and deeply sensuous about touching wild water. The woman stretched her body and gently, slowly, rolled across the wet sand with no more than an inch of water beneath her slender body. Her long raven hair whipped in the warm West wind blowing down the estuary from the sea beyond the dunes. She revelled in the feelings; embraced by the elements; sinking her fingers into the saturated earth and pressing her flesh against the estuary, becoming a part of it, connected to it, supported by it. Droplets trickled over every inch of her body making the wind feel cool, goosebumps raised on her delicate skin, making her even more sensitive to the air around her. She was invigorated, purified.
    A Roll In Landscape
  • Most of my images have featured the individual in relation to their natural environment, but this most recent image contains three nude figures, creating a narrative (or narratives) which should be open to interpretation by different viewers. <br />
<br />
For me as the artist I was fascinated by these naturally occurring caves in huge sea cliffs, caves which really look as though they are dwellings not geological formations. In the early evening sunlight, naked, vulnerable human beings emerge from the caves and revel in the heat of the sunlight and the warmth of the rock of their environment. It was as if I were watching a wildlife programme whilst observing my naked volunteers in this imposing cliff landscape. I like that the rock separates each of the figures, so that they'd be almost unaware of each other, but in the lower caves a man and a woman make a loving connection albeit fragile, whilst in the higher cave a lone female looks towards the light and companionship.
    Scene at the Bare Caves
  • Looming out of the fog-shrouded barren landscape thrusts a granite tor.<br />
Once molten earth, but now ancient stone carved by eons of wind, rain and acid erosion.<br />
<br />
A woman delicately ascends the slippery, lichen covered blocks, her soft skin vulnerable to the gritty surface, grazing her as she climbs. She stands on the summit, the highest point around, the wind whipping her hair across her face, and horizontal drizzle soaking her exposed body. She scans her surroundings looking for any signs of others, but there was no one. She was totally alone amongst the stones.
    Alone in the Stone
  • As the days draw shorter, and a coolness inhabits the shadows, the woman relishes moments when she can step into increasingly-rare pulses of late Autumn sunshine. She feels the cold, rough sharpness of her rocky perch and the sapping of heat from her back, but on her front she welcomes the contrasting warmth of the weak sunshine. It’s going to be a long winter, but she has revelled in a rich summer and knows she will survive the darkness.
    A Curvaceous View
  • International MONO Awards 2014 - Honourable Mention<br />
<br />
In this lonely valley nestles a large but often calm lake. Reeds puncture the glassy smooth surface and there is silence, apart from the occasional bleating of Welsh mountain sheep, or the call of a raven over the hillsides. This woman is so bird-like in stature, so graceful and slim that she reminds me of the heron which frequents this place. She stands motionless on her rock, mimicking the beautiful bird, ready to dive at a moments notice, but in the meantime just embraces the gentle warmth of the afternoon sun.
    The Wader
  • I was intrigued that no matter how ‘modern’ the human race has become, how supposedly civilised, advanced and intellectual, some basic human essentials remain, breathing, eating, making love and giving birth, indeed perhaps really, the main reason any of us exist. <br />
<br />
It therefore seemed apt that this heavily pregnant woman lay as naked as the day she was born, giving birth, her breasts and belly echoing the shapes of the hills surrounding her, and water, the natural element so essential to all of life, calm and tranquil in front of her. <br />
<br />
“The Birthing Pool” is the ideal, a visual depiction of how we truly start life, but stripped of the trappings of modern culture. A genuinely natural beginning, at one with nature, a nature that so many try to isolate themselves from, the moment they become self aware, more’s the pity.
    The Birthing Pool
  • There is a stark loneliness at this far-flung crag even in summer. The woman had been silently climbing the rocky crag to reach its flat top, where she crouched down to look around her. The slow turn of her head was the only movement in this still landscape but then she arose, her slender body illuminated by a ray of late afternoon sunshine. She turned to the light and stood on tiptoes before shouting into the breeze, “I can’t believe this! I’m alone on a mountain and I am completely NAKED! This is AMAZING!” She slowly rotated on her stone platform so that she could feel the warmth over every inch of her body and she revelled in the sensual experience of sun-warmed air flowing over her womanhood. She felt natural; she felt the rock; she loved the liberation and the open space. She was at one with the mountains.
    She Saw the Light
  • It was still winter, the rock was icy cold and the bitter rough surface of the curved rock, normally a sun-bed in summer, was freezing her skin. Yet, in the windless air, those afternoon rays of sunshine gave her some relief. She relished the pleasure and the pain and stretched out abandoned to the sensations. Her skin was tight, but textured to touch, thousands of goosebumps working hard to keep her warm.<br />
<br />
I’d never seen anything so incredible, not just the amazing landscape but that it cradled such a gorgeous woman. I walked over to her, took hold of her hand and whispered, “You’re beautiful!" She turned towards me, smiled and we kissed, warmth burning between us in the rocky wilderness that we had found ourselves in.
    Heat On An Icy Rock
  • When I created this image I was acutely aware of the tantalising proximity of the sacred island, the final destination for so many thousands of pilgrims, yet separated by a notorious stretch of dangerous tidal currents. After journeying for months, this final hurdle must have seemed almost insurmountable for the travellers. Here on the cliff top a strong, lean, powerful female outstretches her arms like the redeemer. She lifts her heels off the ground and has complete faith that she will receive help. She will fly, be lifted and be carried across the water. She will be helped to realisation, helped to the knowledge she seeks. As the mists swirl over the island’s mountain summit and the tidal flow surges between the landmasses, this woman will find her way.  She will cross the divide either through divine intervention or sheer tenacity.
    Finding Paradise
  • 4th of 6 images from my desert series within the larger "Landscape Figures" project. <br />
<br />
“In current times we are seeing an explosion of population and an unsustainable demand for the Earth’s resources. We are in an era when self-interest, greed, power, conflict and indifference rule over tolerance, compassion and love. By now as a species, we should be living in harmony with others and our planet. I often ponder upon why we never really learn, and whether anything would be any different if mankind had the chance to start all over again.<br />
<br />
This small set of images is just an imaginary glimpse of two ordinary people, a man and a woman, both naked as the day they were born, finding love and happiness together on a planet budding with new life. This story doesn’t have a sting in the tail. This story begins and will end with harmony between people and their environment. It is just a little gasp of hope within the current darkness."
    Breathing Life Into Shadows
  • She is powerful; a woman of the mountains, born below this very hill. Half a century on, she is once again naked and as amazing as the day she was born. Almost literally a part of the land, her figure echoes the terrain whilst the spirit of her childhood still whispers in the long grass. These mountains will exist millions of years beyond the blip of human life, but I sense that the spirits of those who have connected to this land will remain eternally.
    At Home On the Hill
  • Nominee in Nude / B&W Spider Awards 2017<br />
<br />
SUN (Shot Up North) Awards 2015<br />
1 of my 4 winning entries  <br />
<br />
International MONO Awards 2014 - Honourable Mention <br />
<br />
Selected Print for the IN:SIGHT (Washington Green) New Artists Competition 2015<br />
<br />
In current times we are seeing an explosion of population and an unsustainable demand for the Earth’s resources. We are in an era when self-interest, greed, power, conflict and indifference rule over tolerance, compassion and love. By now as a species, we should be living in harmony with others and our planet. I often ponder upon why we never really learn, and whether anything would be any different if mankind had the chance to start all over again.<br />
<br />
This small set of images is just an imaginary glimpse of two ordinary people, a man and a woman, both naked as the day they were born, finding love and happiness together on a planet budding with new life. This story doesn’t have a sting in the tail. This story begins and will end with harmony between people and their environment. It is just a little gasp of hope within the current darkness.
    And then there was Man
  • It was mid-winter and I found myself wandering in dark, ancient mountains. Amongst ice-cold waterfalls, with snow clinging to patches of nearby riverbank knelt a woman hunting for fish. However when I studied her more closely, I noticed that she was actually looking at her own reflection in the water, gently tracing the outlines of her face with her fingertips on the mirrored surface.<br />
<br />
So delicate, tiny and primitive looking in her surroundings, but through the simple act of recognising one’s self, one’s existence, she was utterly connected to her hostile environment.
    Against All Odds
  • There was a torrent of water in the narrow river powering down the dark valley. The sound was just audible from a distance, but up close it was noisy and relentless, yet at the same time captivating, mesmerising even.<br />
<br />
I had seen the woman from the mountain ridge, swimming upriver from the valley below, like a salmon to its breeding ground. Every so often she was forced to stand, in order to navigate her way through the waterfalls that interspersed her ascent to the river’s source.<br />
<br />
By the time I reached the valley floor she had temporarily left the water to stretch her lean muscles after such a magnificent effort. The air was warm and her wet skin started to dry in the gentle breeze. When the midges began to surround her, she re-entered the river, squeezed her naked body through large black boulders and in a moment, had slipped into a deep pool. The last I saw of her was no more than an undulating flash of pale skin under the dark water and then she was gone.
    Drying Out in the Dark Valley
  • 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
  • Winning Entry in the 2014 Unlimited Grain 'Contest Award' - (Nudes category)<br />
<br />
Biblical iconography for sure, but a true epiphany for the young woman volunteer, posing nude for the first time ever and feeling alive and connected to the high mountain environment that she had walked up into.
    The Commandment
  • Nominated for 11th International B&W Spider Awards<br />
<br />
This is the sixth of six images within my short 'Genesis' series from my "Landscape Figures" project and exhibition. After the loving connection of "And then there was light" this image was the after effect, the feeling utterly connected to everything, at one with the landscape and at peace with the world. <br />
<br />
In current times we are seeing an explosion of population and an unsustainable demand for the Earth’s resources. We are in an era when self-interest, greed, power, conflict and indifference rule over tolerance, compassion and love. By now as a species, we should be living in harmony with others and our planet. I often ponder upon why we never really learn, and whether anything would be any different if mankind had the chance to start all over again.<br />
<br />
This small set of images is just an imaginary glimpse of two ordinary people, a man and a woman, both naked as the day they were born, finding love and happiness together on a planet budding with new life. This story doesn’t have a sting in the tail. This story begins and will end with harmony between people and their environment. It is just a little gasp of hope within the current darkness.
    Life Connected
  • There is something about being on a precipice, physically and metaphorically, that divides me. Part of me fears the void, fears the drop, yet it also fascinates me. At the same time I feel closest to life, to the amazing things, to good things, joy, happiness and elation. The precipice is a border, a fine line between the end or the future, it’s the stuff of dreams. At first I didn’t even notice the woman, petite, fragile, pale, leaning backwards against the cold rock, a thousand foot drop on three sides of her. But as my eyes focussed on this minuscule organic body in the centre of vast and ancient landscape I saw that she was basking in the afternoon sunlight, her arms spread wide and face towards the universe above. She seemed calm, content, giving herself up to the awareness of space, distance, earth and solitude, a spiritual awareness not of God but of her own existence.
    Exposed to the Light
  • There was a torrent of water in the narrow river powering down the dark valley. The sound was just audible from a distance, but up close it was noisy and relentless, yet at the same time captivating, mesmerising even.<br />
<br />
I had seen the woman from the mountain ridge, swimming upriver from the valley below, like a salmon to its breeding ground. Every so often she was forced to stand, in order to navigate her way through the waterfalls that interspersed her ascent to the river’s source.<br />
<br />
By the time I reached the valley floor she had temporarily left the water to stretch her lean muscles after such a magnificent effort. The air was warm and her wet skin started to dry in the gentle breeze. When the midges began to surround her, she re-entered the river, squeezed her naked body through large black boulders and in a moment, had slipped into a deep pool. The last I saw of her was no more than an undulating flash of pale skin under the dark water and then she was gone.
    The Caress of Air & Water
  • At high tide this is a vast stretch of wind-chopped sea. Small flocks of oystercatchers and turnstones skim across its surface as they wait for the spoils of low water and terns screech in the open sky before plunging into schools of small fish.<br />
<br />
But now the estuary is empty, just acres of wet sand and silt remain. In the middle of this huge open space a woman lies recumbent in the afternoon sunshine. The last rivulets of brine silently flow past her beautiful wet body, every inch of her skin delicately textured with raised goosebumps. The sunlight and gentle breeze warmed her flesh and her salty skin became smooth.<br />
<br />
That evening on my return journey, the tide was high once again. A lonely curlew gave its distinctive call as it flew inland to nest, and in the darkening gloom of dusk I saw movement out on the water. I focussed hard on the smooth curves amongst the small waves, and I saw a dark tail appear above the surface before the shape disappeared altogether. I can only assume it was a seal.
    Revealed at Low Tide
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Glyn Davies, Professional Photographer and Gallery

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