This mini feature showcases one of the eighteen open submission portfolios selected for inclusion in our printed journal based on the theme of the right to roam
I use photography and film to explore ideas about a landscape or environment that I have a personal connection with. I try not to be particularly precious about the technology I use or the medium I work with, and like to mix black and white with colour, analogue with digital and to experiment with collage and printing techniques.
Invariably walking is the starting point for the majority of my work, so the right to roam is close to my heart. Paths that are too restrictive; the lack of paths; confusing sign-posts or the lack of sign-posts all cause frustration, but the carving up and fencing of the open landscape is my main bugbear. Since moving back to South Wales in the summer of 2019, I have been re-connecting with the area I left as a child, specifically the hills, mountains and woodlands around my new home town of Abergavenny. Until the first COVID lockdown in March 2020, this had been my greatest pleasure.
Just as I was finding my feet, the lockdown put new restrictions on my ability to walk freely, and like many I was hit by the reality of the ‘new normal’. Prompted by an invitation by the Stroud based group Walking the Land to join their Sacred Space: two meter distancing project, I regained some focus and in a playful manner started walking. A series of random walks that complied with the allowed one hour restricted exercise followed. All the walks kept to the same structure: to walk for thirty minutes, take a picture on a Fuji instant film camera then return home, recording the route on the Ordnance Survey mapping App. Over time I became a little more flexible, sometimes walking for a little over an hour and sometimes taking more than one photograph.
With so little to feel good about during this period, the right to roam became doubly important. These short walks and discoveries allowed me to continue to explore and discover my new environment and became central to my life. For a while they became my work, and play. The images submitted to ‘right to roam’ document seven of the nine restricted walks that make up ‘I Wander’.
The full set of images from the open submission are shown below (click to view image larger in the original format).
Website: davemd.co.uk
Instagram: @dmorgandavies
CREDITS
Unless otherwise stated, all words and images in this article are © David Morgan-Davies
THE JOURNAL
Our biggest, most content packed, and socially current publication to date, exploring the theme of the right to roam. Featuring an introduction by our very own co-founder Rob Hudson and a selection of work from 37 contributors, including the one featured above. Click on the image of the journal cover below to take you to the journal’s information and ordering page.
