Photography Revisited

Waves at Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight

At the moment there are severe gale warnings posted for northern Britain. Last night the Isle of Wight and the south coast got a beating with much flooding. These waves bursting up over the sea defences at Freshwater Bay had a small group of photographers trying their luck to catch a big one without getting soaked. Fortunately I remained dry.

Just up the road is the Dimbola Lodge, former home of Julia Margaret Cameron and now a museum exhibiting her work and telling her history. I’ve long admired Cameron’s photographs and was glad of the opportunity to visit the westerly edge of this windswept island and take a look around. As a present to myself I bought two prints.

One is a striking image of a woman titled “Proserpine” and I think refers to Proserpina whose name comes from proserpere meaning “to emerge.” (Wikipedia) The woman was a professional model unlike most of Camerions subjects who tended to be relatives, friends or servants. The other print is of Sir John Herschel. Herschel played a part in the history of photography including coining the word photography as well as discovering how to ‘fix’ photographs. He was also a photographic mentor to Julia Margaret Cameron.

I’ll keep those two prints, treasures, tucked away to remind me of the day I turned sixty and of my long interest in photography.

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5 thoughts on “Photography Revisited”

  1. My only visit to the Isle of Wight was to Freshwater Bay for the 1970 festival. The Doors, Jimi Hendrix & the Who among others. By the end of the year Hendrix was dead as was Janis Joplin.
    Happy memories of swimming naked in the sea with lots of other people. It was good to feel clean! There were few facilities then – long queues for a single tap & toilets were holes dug in the ground with wooden seats placed over them – the areas turned to mud very quickly. Oh, we had it hard in those days!

  2. The storms is just hitting is now in Frankfurt…rode to my first class on my bike in sun with heavy winds and just got back with wind and RAIN! As a belated birthday greeting and wish, I wish you many wonderful blessings and adventures in the coming year! (And hopefully you’ll keep blessing us with your photos! Keep clicking away!) Jack

  3. It was quite a storm, with some flooding in Selsey. Glad to see the Island was still there the next morning, with you on board Rev. Mugo.

  4. Thanks to Angie, Jack and Roy.

    I met a young woman yeserday at an arts certer in Newport. I asked her if there was still and Isle of Wight Festival. Yes. Still in Freshwater Bay? Blank look. I explained that THE FESTIVAL, the first one, was held in 1967 in Freshwater bay. Thanks Angie for your memory of the 1970 festival.

    And Jack. Yes I’ll keep on clicking. Too bad I forgot to put the memory card in my camera yesterday. I did two walks, the first from Newport to Cowes and the second Ventnor to Shanklin. The rain held off and so did the wind.

    Roy. Am I right in thinking you live in Selsey where all of the flooding has been? Yes the island is still here, too wet for me to venture abroad today unfortunately.

  5. Hi Rev. Mugo, yes you are right, I live in Selsey. The floods usually affect the caravan park, they have been getting worse over the past five years, this time about thirty caravans were flooded, they are in an erea which is below sea level. Where I live is OK at the moment as we are about three or four feet above see level. The Island disappears sometimes, but appears again, later.

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