From days out as a child to teenage jaunts on the train to Dreamland and, in the late 2000s, working as a press photographer for the Thanet Gazette and Times, I guess you could say that Margate has always been a feature in my life but it's not until relatively recently that I have seen it as a destination for photography. While Margate is an hour away, the North Kent Marshes is quite literally on my doorstep and is where for more than 30 years I have been, almost exclusively, training my lens and where, 7 years ago, my enthusiasm and passion for impressionist photography really took off as I began to ponder upon how to create images of the marsh in a style that emphasised its big skies, wide open spaces, salt marsh pools, and reed-lined ditches. From these beginnings, Marsh Light and Marsh Impressions workshops were born.
However, my fascination with impressionism and, more specifically, with Britain's most important (in my humble opinion, for what it's worth) and influential artist - J. M. W. Turner - began in 2011 when I was asked by the local newspaper to cover the grand opening of Turner Contemporary by local artist Tracey Emin and then, shortly after, by TC to photograph the official opening of the exhibition spaces. To me, it's a stunning building that Margate so desperately needed and since then cafes and bars in its Old Town have emerged and contributed, in no small part, to its newfound popularity. Indeed, in recent times, films such as Mr Turner and the newly released Empire of Light have been seduced by its charm.
As much as I adore the marshes (it's in my blood!), I felt it was time for a new location; somewhere I could not only practice my impressionist work but also long exposure, and where better, I thought, than where the great man himself found so much inspiration and produced more than 100 oils and watercolours? After numerous wind-blown visits, I am now running photography workshops in Margate - Turner's Town: Long Exposure and Impressionism. I hope you can join me.
