Ian Furniss Photography » Blog Archive » The Inspirational World pt1

The Inspirational World pt1

Today I want to dedicate a few lines to some inspriring imagery i’ve come across in recent months. 2009 itself has been pretty chaotic for me and my family. My father died a few months ago, my mother has been in and out of hospital so many times I feel i’m on first name terms with about 90% of the regions NHS. What started out as a year where I planned to move my photographic work onto the next level, became a year I struggled to keep my head above water (or more accurately above the ringpull on a can of Carling). The last month or so things have calmed a little and it’s allowed me to not only reassess what I need to do, but also it’s given me the opportunity to step back and look at the inspiring work that is being done by other photographers around me. It’s given me a great lift and motivation to make 2010 the best year yet, and it’s that motivation that I want to share with you today.

This is by no means a definitive list of my inspirations, if I wrote one of those we’d be here for hours, but it is a kind of ‘Top 5′ compilation that I hope will help to inspire you and send you out into 2010 with a renewed passion! Two categories, one for each of my main loves, Landscape & World: Today is Landscape

David Anthony Hall
What can you say about a guy who can make a row of trees look like a world of intriguing thought and reflection? If ever you’re stuck for inspiration just take a look through his work and see what can come from Man & Camera in complete harmony.

Ian Cameron
Ian says the intent of his photography is simple. That’s as maybe, but what comes out are some of the most beautiful images you’ll find, fused with an ability that is far from simple. Simple is falling on your backside in the snow! Making images that are as natural and filled with raw beauty as these are, that takes a master of his art.

Peak Landscapes – Dav Thomas
Dav Thomas is a photographer I only came across recently when I found myself with a couple of spare hours and was trawling google for some local inspiration. He’s based on the other side of the Peak District to myself and if that search taught me one thing, it’s that the Peak District has been worked to death by photographers and coming up with something original isn’t easy. Dav manages to. Like David Anthony Hall I mention above, Dav is someone who makes the mundane fascinating, and the fascinating, astounding.

Iain Sarjeant
There’s a theory around that the best way of using galleries to promote yourself, is to have no more than about 20 images in there. Anything more and you risk people browsing through and finding something they don’t like. Iain’s work stands as the exception to that rule. It’s enough to make even an Englishman fall in love with Scotland! Browse his galleries with a cup of tea at your side and enjoy the beauty of Scotland through the eyes of one of its finest ambassadors.

Mark Metternich
Mark Metternich is another photographer I somehow was fortunate enough to stumble across by accident. His work is stunning, but he also takes things to another level completely with the way he manages to present it. I can’t imagine what’s going through his head when he takes a photo, but when he talks about wanting to show the ‘awesome beauty of creation’, I can safely say he manages it.

Come back tomorrow for the last day of 2009, the ‘World’ category … and a round-up of whatever pops into my head in the meantime!