Exhibition of the celebrated landscape photographer's work to open in Cornwall in September
(Image credit: The Fay Godwin Archive / The British Library)
A major retrospective of the photography of Fay Godwin is opening in Cornwall, UK, next month. Godwin is one of the most celebrated British landscape photographs of the 20th century, and best known for her moody black-and-white images.
Known as both a photographer and a conservationist, Fay Godwin’s landscape work was both a celebration of Britain’s countryside and a criticism of the damage being done to it. Her work ranged from atmospheric studies of ancient sites in remote locations to pictures showing polluted, rubbish-strewn rivers. Roger Taylor, in his essay for the monograph Landmarks (2002), referred to her ‘mastery of the elusive grammar of greys.’ Born in 1931, she died in 2005 aged 74.
Under a turbulent sky is an exhibition of 27 prints personally selected by people who knew or worked with and were influenced by Fay Godwin… by curators, collectors and historians of photography as well as by close friends and family members.
Fay Godwin, Above Lumbutts, Lancashire, 1978 (Image credit: The Fay Godwin Archive / The British Library)
Fay Godwin, Ramsgate, Kent, 1972 (Image credit: The Fay Godwin Archive / The British Library)
The Duke of Westminster's Estate, Forest of Bowland, 1989 (Image credit: The Fay Godwin Archive / The British Library)
Fay Godwin, Markerstone, old Harlech to London Road, Gwynedd, Wales, 1976 (Image credit: The Fay Godwin Archive / The British Library)
Fay Godwin, Pett Level, East Sussex, 1988 (Image credit: The Fay Godwin Archive / The British Library)
Fay Godwin, Sleeping Fisherman, Dungeness, Kent, 1974 (Image credit: The Fay Godwin Archive / The British Library)
Godwin began taking photographs in her mid-30s; her early professional work included publicity portraits of famous poets and novelists. After 1976 she began to concentrate on landscape work and collaborated with poet Ted Hughes on the acclaimed book of Pennine landscapes, Remains of Elmet (1979).
Godwin’s most famous book is Land (1985), a collection of her black-and-white landscapes from around Britain, which was published alongside an essay by the novelist John Fowles.
In later years, she campaigned as president of the Rambler’s Association for greater public access to the countryside, and produced abstract color work. Her archive of 11,000 exhibition prints and her correspondence were given to the British Library.
The exhibition will be held at Kestle Barton in the village of Manaccan, near Helston, from September 9 until October 28. The gallery is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am – 5pm.
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Chris George has worked on Digital Camera World since its launch in 2017. He has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making and technology for over 30 years – and has edited numerous magazines including PhotoPlus, N-Photo, Digital Camera, Video Camera, and Professional Photography.
His first serious camera was the iconic Olympus OM10, with which he won the title of Young Photographer of the Year - long before the advent of autofocus and memory cards. Today he uses a Nikon D800, a Fujifilm X-T1, a Sony A7, and his iPhone 15 Pro Max.
He has written about technology for countless publications and websites including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, Dorling Kindersley, What Cellphone, T3 and Techradar.
