James Ravilious

[Alan Clark]

James Ravilious is one of my favourite photographers. Published by the Bardwell Press, "An English Eye" is a lovely book of his photographs. The text, by Peter Hamilton, is good too, with lots of technical insights into the techniques and methods used by Ravilious.

Ravilious died a few years ago. Vastly under-rated, he photographed rural life in North Devon during the last quarter of the last century. I first became aware of him in the 'eighties when I saw an exhibition of his work when on holiday in Devon.

His photographs became a great inspiration to me when I started photographing similar subjects to Ravilious, here in North Yorkshire.

There are lots of his pictures on the internet. If you are not familiar with his work, check him out!

Alan

[B&W Neil]

I lived near him in the 70s ( just 2 miles away) when I was in North Devon and never bumped into him once. But I had the pleasure of seeing his work exhibited locally on several occasions. His work was just superb and he really caught the essence of rurual North Devon at that time. Chris Chapman was doing similar work on Dartmoor at the time and they were good friends and often photographed together. Chris Chapman's site is here:

http://www.chrischapmanphotography.com/



Neil.

[Bob]

There was a program on the Beeb some time ago about him and his work in rural Devon. There is quite a bit of stuff about him on the Beeb's site - starting here is as good a place as any: http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/10/31/james_ravilious_film_feature.shtml

He created a fantastic body of work.

[Keith Tapscott.]

I have never met him, but I did see some of his B&W prints on display at the Dartmoor visitor centre a few years ago. I was told that he used Leica M series camera(s) with the older non-coated or single coated lenses because he preferred the softer gradation he got from those lenses compared with the newer multi-coated lenses.
I think his main film stock was Kodak Tri-X developed in D-76 1:1.
I don`t know which B&W papers he used, but his prints were made full frame with a black key-line around them.

[Bob]

Oh - I just checked and the entire BBC documentary is up on youtube :) :

TYg8mxvUgJE

[Mike O'Pray]

Thanks for the youtube link, Bob. It was part of a whole photography night( about 8 hrs worth!) on BBC many Saturdays ago and well worth a look or even a second look in my case. It was clear he was part of the communiity and countryside he was photographing. Only when you are "woven into" the area can you really capture the essence of it as he did.

Mike

[Dave miller]

James Ravilious is one of my favourite photographers. Published by the Bardwell Press, "An English Eye" is a lovely book of his photographs. The text, by Peter Hamilton, is good too, with lots of technical insights into the techniques and methods used by Ravilious.

Ravilious died a few years ago. Vastly under-rated, he photographed rural life in North Devon during the last quarter of the last century. I first became aware of him in the 'eighties when I saw an exhibition of his work when on holiday in Devon.

His photographs became a great inspiration to me when I started photographing similar subjects to Ravilious, here in North Yorkshire.

There are lots of his pictures on the internet. If you are not familiar with his work, check him out!

Alan

I agree fully, he was the inadvertent inspiration for my web site (since closed) and remains so in one of my email names.

[B&W Neil]

I have never met him, but I did see some of his B&W prints on display at the Dartmoor visitor centre a few years ago. I was told that he used Leica M series camera(s) with the older non-coated or single coated lenses because he preferred the softer gradation he got from those lenses compared with the newer multi-coated lenses.
I think his main film stock was Kodak Tri-X developed in D-76 1:1.
I don`t know which B&W papers he used, but his prints were made full frame with a black key-line around them.


Keith,

That's correct - old Leicas with old lenses which handled the contrast better.
Mostly he printed his negs uncropped. Towards the end of his life his work was being printed in a pro darkroom in Exeter. I met the guy who did this many years ago at a course he was runnming and it was interesting to hear what he had to say. I just wish I purchased one of his original prints when I had the chance to. Problem was - two kids, a mortgage and only one wage coming in!

Neil.

[Keith Tapscott.]

Keith,

That's correct - old Leicas with old lenses which handled the contrast better.
Mostly he printed his negs uncropped. Towards the end of his life his work was being printed in a pro darkroom in Exeter. I met the guy who did this many years ago at a course he was runnming and it was interesting to hear what he had to say. I just wish I purchased one of his original prints when I had the chance to. Problem was - two kids, a mortgage and only one wage coming in!

Neil.That would have been a nice investment. Was he using the pro-darkroom himself, or was someone else doing the printing for him back then?

[B&W Neil]

Nope - IIRC his sight was deteriating and darkroom work was becoming difficult so he appointed them to print some of his work to his instructions. I can remember the guy saying what a great chap he was to work with.

Yes, I should have bought a print !

Neil.

[Alan Clark]

Neil,
I believe it was a chemical allergy that eventually kept him out of the darkroom. I would have loved to print for him. Think how much you could learn from such an experience!

What I really like about his photographs is his honesty and empathy for the subject. This gives them dignity and humanity. Rare qualities. He also had a wonderful eye for composition and shapes.. Having tried to do something with similar subject matter I can also appreciate how hard it is to compose so beautifully with moving subject matter.


Alan

[B&W Neil]

Alan,
Yes that sounds more like it, it was along time ago! He caught the area so well and really got to know the local farmers. We lived in a very rural parish only about two miles from James and there were locals there that had never been out of the immediate area and had no intention of doing so. We rented a field of an old farmer and he told me once that he had been as far as Plymouth but that was only once and immdediately after the war ! Lovely times :-)

Neil.

[Keith Tapscott.]

James Ravilious is one of my favourite photographers. Published by the Bardwell Press, "An English Eye" is a lovely book of his photographs. The text, by Peter Hamilton, is good too, with lots of technical insights into the techniques and methods used by Ravilious.

Ravilious died a few years ago. Vastly under-rated, he photographed rural life in North Devon during the last quarter of the last century. I first became aware of him in the 'eighties when I saw an exhibition of his work when on holiday in Devon.

His photographs became a great inspiration to me when I started photographing similar subjects to Ravilious, here in North Yorkshire.

There are lots of his pictures on the internet. If you are not familiar with his work, check him out!

AlanI just found a post on the PN forum about James Ravilious by Peter Hamilton which you might find interesting.
It seems that Peter is also a keen photographer himself and uses Linhof 4x5 Cameras and even has an 8x10 enlarger.
To find out the lenses that James Ravilous liked to use, read here. (http://photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/003N0i):)

[Alan Clark]

Thanks Keith. Interesting stuff!
I have the book An English Eye, photographs by Ravilious, text by Peter Hamilton, and the text goes into all this in a lot of detail. I only wish I had access to a Leica and old Leica lenses to experiment myself!

Alan

[Keith Tapscott.]

Thanks Keith. Interesting stuff!
I have the book An English Eye, photographs by Ravilious, text by Peter Hamilton, and the text goes into all this in a lot of detail. I only wish I had access to a Leica and old Leica lenses to experiment myself!

AlanTry one of the Russian Leica copies Alan. I think Fed or Zorki have similar designed lenses to the old Leitz Elmars and they`re cheap to buy.

[Keith Tapscott.]

Try one of the Russian Leica copies Alan. I think Fed or Zorki have similar designed lenses to the old Leitz Elmars and they`re cheap to buy.I have just been checking out the Fed lenses, although they look like the early Leitz Elmar`s, they are actually more like Zeiss Tessars in design so you will need to buy an uncoated Leitz Elmar if you want that `look`.

[Alan Clark]

Keith,
Now you have set me thinking! My next door neighbour has a Fed that he doesn't use anymore. Where is the best place to get an uncoated Leitz 35mm Elmar?

Alan

[Keith Tapscott.]

Keith,
Now you have set me thinking! My next door neighbour has a Fed that he doesn't use anymore. Where is the best place to get an uncoated Leitz 35mm Elmar?

AlanYou could try Peter Loy. (http://www.peterloy.co.uk/)

[Alan Clark]

Thanks Keith,

Alan

[stu goodman]

was lucky enough to see a show of his work at the gressenhall museum of rural life near dereham in norfolk. his widow robin gave a talk which helped put it all in some kind of order.

superb photos, really timeless and gave the feeling of a man at peace with what he was doing. must get a book or two

[Collas]

For others who might be interested in the work of James, I have a few websites to recommend.

The Beaford Archive, for which James worked, has a few books, postcards and prints for sale. I've bought from them, and they carefully wrap the items. The prints are very nice and I've purchased "Irwin Piper leading sheep down a snowy lane, Upcott, Dolton, Devon, 1981" and "Barking Dog, Ashwell Farm, Dolton, Devon, 1977".

http://www.beaford-arts.org.uk/index.php?id=5

They also have some pages for the work of Roger Deakins, now better known as a cinematographer.

The official James Ravilious website, which has already been mentioned:

http://www.jamesravilious.com/

And this final site will enable you to purchase the BBC Four documentary from a few years ago about James and narrated by Alan Bennett, "A World in Photographs".

http://www.banyak.co.uk/shop-ravilious.php

This is well worth getting.

Shortly after seeing this programme and reading "An English Eye", I sent a Contax 137MD off to Malcolm Taylor, the Leica repair specialist in deepest Herefordshire, as the foam light seals had disintegrated. I mentioned that I was interested in obtaining an uncoated lens, as I knew that he might have a similar one to that used by James. When I mentioned James's name, it seems that Malcolm used to supply James lenses, and even took the coatings off some for him to experiment with. I passed on the details of the Beaford Archive to Malcolm, as he was hoping to get back in contact with Robin.

I ended up buying a 1938 28mm f6.3 Hektor with original brass lens shade. It suffers from noticeable vignetting and dreadful flare, but I like it. Not quite as sharp as the Zeiss ZM Biogon, though!

I'm not sure how I could cut down on the flare as the lens shade rotates with the lens, and the framing is rather approximate with the VIOOH and its 28mm attachment lens on my M3. And the focusing lever clashes with the frame selector on the M6.

Nick

[wiesmier]

I just love Mr Ravilious' work. The Crofter, who I have been snapping for the last 18 months bought me the dvd of the programme posted above which as it happens has some nice little extras. I have been very inspired by his work. There's also a 'homage to ..' group on flickr.

[RH Designs]

There's a taster of the documentary on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq2iZmEmF8A).