Following on from the popularity of “I will not chase the cat” last week, it’s my pleasure to make this canine Print Collection available to you…
…as ever, made with the finest materials modern science can muster to make sumptuous prints that will last more than a lifetime.
It’s just seven days to go until my second Great North Run.
With 56,000 entrants, it’s now the largest mass-participation event in the UK as well as the world’s largest half marathon.
Fundraising for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a really important part of the event for me (see my last post for some reasons why).
After raising £1652 for the RNLI on last year’s run, this year I hope to raise over £2000 for my local crew at Tynemouth Lifeboat Station — a busy station protecting the North Sea coast.
To reach that target I could really do with your help. As well as supporting me through my JustGiving page, I’ve also created a new way to donate…
For every print purchased from my Sea Collection, £25 will be donated to the Tynemouth Lifeboat Station (£25 will pay for a week’s training for a lifeboat crew member).
So, not only will you have acquired a beautiful signed and numbered print but you will also be helping to save lives at sea.
Buy a print from the Sea Collection and £25 will be donated to the Tynemouth Lifeboat Station…
This is a permanent feature of the Sea Collection, not just limited to my Great North Run fundraising efforts.
If you’d like to help me support the RNLI, please do have a look through the Sea Collection or visit my JustGiving page…
From The Cobb, Lyme Regis, 7th July 2013
Now available as a signed, numbered and embossed print in The Sea Collection.
Wandering in the lower reaches of the Ouseburn Valley here in Newcastle, it’s impossible to miss one of my favourite locations — a spot where a collection of fine bridges has spanned the valley in some way shape or form since the 18th Century.
To stroll among these marvels of civil engineering is breathtaking, a sensation akin to gazing at an art gallery laden with Old Master paintings.
Byker Bridges, 2003
My favourites are the 280 metre 1839 railway viaduct and the 800 metre long 1982 Metro light-rail bridge, both from very different times but both individually stunning.
I’ve really missed having access to this part of our local habitat…
Over the last couple of years, the railway viaduct has undergone a £10million refurbishment during which time the surroundings have become a no-go area; a scaffolding-clad 24/7 hive of bustling industry.
Metro Bridge, 2003
We’ll be able to wonder among this gallery again soon, however, as the scaffolding is finally coming down.
The rejuvenated viaduct looks truly resplendent in its new raven-black coat.
The scaffolding comes down, March 2013
The Ouseburn Valley as seen by Google Earth (the railway viaduct is still covered here).
In a couple of years or so, when the scarred landscape has had time to recover, I’ll look forward to rephotographing this favourite spot…
— Signed Prints
I make prints of Byker Bridges and Metro Bridge that are numbered, signed and embossed — you can buy them directly from my Cornerstone Collection.
There’s something about the sea, isn’t there? Something stirring and primordial; to gaze out to the distant horizon is so many things to so many people.
Solace, hope, comfort, adventure and inspiration all spring to mind.
How many times have you driven along a coastline and seen people of all ages taking a stroll or simply sitting on a bench, looking so relaxed in a trance-like state as they stare wistfully towards the horizon?
How many times have you done just that yourself?
Tynemouth No.1
The draw of the sea is strong within my soul. At the moment, it’s not fully nurtured. I miss being among the waves and long to return to my love of sea kayaking some time soon.
Way back when, my father enjoyed a spell in the Merchant Navy and was also a deep sea diver in the North Sea.
Indeed, we spent the first few years of my life living on a beautiful old boat, so I’m sure these are just some of the clues that point to why I love the watery stuff so much.
A while back, I was invited to make a photograph on the theme of emotion for an NSPCC charity auction being held at the The Old Truman Brewery in London.
My choice of subject? To return to my birth town, Aberdeen, and photograph the sea…
Aberdeen
— My First Photo Book
On seeing his beautiful show at The Zelda Cheatle Gallery, the first photo book I ever bought was The Shipping Forecast by Mark Power.
The cover image still holds the same attraction to me now as it did then…
“The forecast stirs our residual contact with the sublime, our fading sense of epic scenarios, places where great, life-threatening forces are continually unleashed and where nature’s vengeful power always hovers over the horizon.”
Stirring words that certainly tap into my psyche, capturing the essence of what I still love about Power’s body of work.
— The Sea Collection
Llanbedrog Sunrise
The Cobb
As you might imagine, I’ve made many nautical photographs over the years.
You can browse and purchase my Archival Pigment Prints of the sea by clicking here.
Each print is made, signed and embossed by me, shipped to your door to provide a new window through which to wistfully gaze…
‘Llanbedrog Sunrise’ from The Sea Collection
— Further Inspiration
Here’s a short film that I’ve always loved, Dark Side of the Lens, and one I’m sure you’ll enjoy too:
“Subtle glimpses of magic others might pass by…something worth remembering with a photograph or a scar.” — Dark Side of the Lens
— The RNLI, Saving Lives at Sea
A final word…
You might well have guessed by now that my favourite charity is the RNLI.
As an island nation, the dedicated volunteers around our coastline are vital to ensuring the safety of those at sea for whatever reason.
I’ve been a fan of them since I was a boy. I loved this clip they posted of the Plymouth Lifeboat heading out on a shout in a Storm Force 10 gale at the back end of last year.
Hold tight…!
Jack Lowe 