Tucked away out of sight in the rural village of Wrabness, which sits just a few miles from the international ferry port of Harwich you could be forgiven for thinking that this unique building, which was designed by Essex artist extraordinaire Grayson Perry was from a scene in Hansel and Gretel.
A House for Essex, Wrabness
Designed around the story of the original 'Essex Girl' Julie Cope (believed to be based on his mum). It is meant to reflect the type of house this Basildon girl would live in. Personally, I really like it, but it would be fair to say that it doesn't sit too comfortably with the other bungalows that you pass on your journey to it down the unmade track.
On a photographic level I wanted to create my own interpretation of this amazing piece of work, so decided to shoot it in infra red and then convert it to black and white. By doing so it meant I'd need a tripod as I was using a screw on filter which would necessitate some lengthy exposures.
I must have taken 8-10 shots of the same composition with varying exposures and after processing them I settled on this image. I love the way the movement in the clouds has softened the sky and the tree is totally blurred after being buffeted by the strong breeze, but most of all, I love the way the overgrown grass and flowers have turned white.
Up until Lockdown I had my work for sale in four galleries and this image was by far my best seller. Sadly, 3 of the galleries closed and my exhibition at the 4th ran it's course so I still have one full size bespoke framed picture with non reflective glass picture left for sale. Any enquiries most welcome.
I also won an award for this image in a club competition which was for images taken in Essex and I was runner with it in a countywide competition where there were over 700 entries, which I was most pleased with.
Suited and booted for the final of the Essex Photography Prize which was held in Chelmsford.
Below are some alternative images that I took that day. Perhaps it was because it was a dull day, but the colour images really don't do anything for me at all. The day really needed some sunshine to bring out the colours.
