The French family watching the Cup Final, Brendon Barton, Exmoor.
Guest post by fellow photoblogger Bruce Robbins. https://onlinedarkroom.blogspot.com
It's a shame, but not uncommon for artists, that James
Ravilious didn't receive the respect and appreciation he deserved for his
photography until after his death. I hadn't heard of James until about six
years ago although I'd always liked the paintings of his father, Eric. It was
the unusual but familiar surname that got me looking at James's work and I was
instantly hooked. His composition is impeccable and the tonal qualities in his
prints are, in my opinion, unrivalled. He also had two rules that I respect and
try to live up to: no cropping and no "setting" up photographs,
whether of people or things.
As occurs not infrequently with other photographers when they see images they like, they start to wonder if they can produce something similar. Thus begins the quest for information about the equipment and technique employed by the master, as if copying those will lead us to success. That's what happened with James. Some people loved the look of his prints, the delicate, silvery tones, and set out to duplicate the look if not the actual subject matter.
I remember reading a few appeals on different forums for info about James's choice of film and developer. Then there was the near mystical reverence in which some believed he held pre-war Leica lenses - so Summars and Elmars were added to the shopping list - along with the lens hood he carefully crafted (using black electrical tape on the hood) to reduce flare to the lowest possible level when using these old, uncoated optics.
There will be readers who have James's books who will know all this stuff off by heart but also others who have heard a bit and still wonder what all the fuss is about. As someone who has picked up a few Ravilious books, I thought I'd write a post explaining what I think it all adds up to.
The best place to start is with what motivated James when it came to "the look". He started off with contemporary Leitz lenses but hated their high contrast. He couldn't cope with the hard shadows and the punchy appearance of the resultant negatives. I think he experienced some difficulties retaining detail in key areas when shooting against the light as he often liked to do and in the dark Devon cottages with their deep shadows. That's when he started to cast around for something that would give him a softer image.
You can get a good idea of what he was after from the reproductions in the book below if you can find a copy at a reasonable price.
The book's subtitle is "North Devon Landscapes & People" and it's all of that and a lot more besides. The photography just oozes charm and atmosphere and has frozen in time a people and a way of life that, although captured not too far back in the 1970s and 1980s, don't really exist any more. As such, it's not just a collection of lovely-to-look-at photographs but an important social documentary record.
This copy landed in my possession via Abe Books. I can't remember exactly what I paid for the hardback but it was £7-something. The other copies I found on Amazon and various other online book stores were all at least £30-£40 so I snapped up the volume as soon as I saw it. The book I bought is a republication and dates from 1995. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed looking at a collection of pictures quite so much.The entirety of my teenage existence is encapsulated within the '70s so it's a time with which I readily identify. However, so slowly does the culture of the countryside and its traditions develop that many of the pictures could have been taken at any point since the war. Now and then there are some "modern" bits of machinery lying around or younger people with datable fashions to give the game away but many of the farmers featured in James's work are still wearing the heavy overcoats, bonnets and wellies of their grandfathers' generation - a timeless attire that the late 1980s/early 1990s and the explosion of popular culture largely brought to an end.One of the things that sets James's photography apart, aside from the subject matter, is explained by the man himself in the introduction. We're often told by photography critics and gurus to concentrate on the image and not obsess over the technicalities but sometimes we can make an exception.
Stephen Middleton watering sheep. Westacott, Riddlecomb.To be continued.
If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/
Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia
are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal
address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943
Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how
you would like your book inscribed.
Text copyright 2026 Bruce Robbins. Photos by James Ravilious copyright The Beaford Trust, 2026.
I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.
