Images of Creative Herefordshire: Its Artists, Craftspeople and Musicians at work

Description

PLEASE NOTE – the sale price is because the covers of these copies are a bit scuffed with some slight marks etc. Doesn’t affect interior pages.

Within Herefordshire there is a wealth of artists, craftspeople and musicians working away. Whilst there are many opportunities to see the output of the artists and craftspeople, and to hear the musicians, very few of the former keep open workplaces where you can see them making. Indeed, the majority value privacy. And whilst musicians of course perform in public, the hours and hours spent rehearsing are away from the public gaze.

The idea behind this book is therefore to show these people at work and in their workplaces. Malcolm Scott began with those he already knew, extending out through people who exhibited at Herefordshire’s Contemporary Craft Fair as well as any artist, craftsperson or musician who featured in the Hereford Times. Once the project was under way, other contacts were made on the recommendation of those being photographed. Thus the selection of subjects is representative of the local diversity, but it is by no means all-inclusive. As Richard Heatly says in his introduction, the photographs show people completely absorbed in their work, which is unusual in a ‘portrait’. The accompanying text and image of their work tells yet more about the character of the person. And it is these words that indicate why Herefordshire exerts such a pull on artists, craftspeople and musicians through a combination of the tranquillity and character of its landscape, of the draw that Hereford’s College of Art exerts, and the fact that Herefordshire seems peculiarly receptive to an artistic community.

Although he has been taking photographs since he was eleven, it was only when he was semi-retired from his career as an applied physicist and engineer that Malcolm Scott was able to devote time to taking an extensive series of photographs of Herefordshire, having lived in or on its borders for over forty years. The first series, Portrait of Herefordshire, covered all aspects of Herefordshire life – its people at work and leisure, landscapes and town scenes. This new series focuses on the county’s creative community – its artists, craftspeople and musicians.

Paperback | 192 pages | 240 x 210 mm | 2015
165 b&w photographs
ISBN 978-1-906663-94-0