Prelude
Helen, Ian and Elizabeth Redmayn,
in Harewood Church, Leeds
I’ve wanted to do an ecclesiastical project for some time.
We’ve visited scores of churches, cathedrals and monasteries over the years and I’ve taken several thousand photos; we’ve been to Dunkeld in the north, to Southwold in the east, to Exeter (both the most southerly and westerly) and dozens of places in between.
Well strictly, the Abbey of Saint Etienne and the Abbey of Sainte Trinite in Caen, St. John’s Co‑Cathedral in Malta and the old mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo took us further south – but I was largely thinking about Great Britain.
I’ve been in Harewood Church when Ian talks passionately about the Redmayn effigies (friends past) to friends present (as you can see); walked into Bath Abbey as it echoed to the sound of organ practice; seen elusive beams of ‘dust-light’ in St. Helen’s Church, York; listened to the choir in Norwich Cathedral on our 40th wedding anniversary; seen the ‘There But Not There’ war memorial in Leeds Minster.
I could fill a chapter with these memories. But few of my photographs capture these invisible stories. Instead, they're mostly heavy with architecture. They’re well composed and well executed, and a good aide memoire to prompt many of these precious stories – but they lack their rich emotional content.
So now seems the perfect time to start work on churches and cathedrals and make these invisible stories visible. I want to create a body of work which truly makes my heart sing.
I can’t wait to make a start.