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 Originally Posted by lxdude
Yes, Suzanne, there is. I saw it online some months back. But dang it, I can't remember where! Like his work, a real treat.
Is there really.
I`ve only ever seen the youtube extract which is a firm favorite of mine.
Michael
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Originally Posted by Pastiche
Another element that I think is emotive, is that whether we like it or not, there is a certain romanticized image of rural life.. and these images play to that concept... Many of the images depict "perfect" examples of this or that "character" from the farm-mythos.... ...
As someone who was born and has always lived in Devon, not far from where many of Ravilious' photographs were taken, I'd respectfully suggest that the subject matter of the images itself is not born of romanticism. The way of life he portrayed did and still does continue in the county, and his characters are still plentiful in the farming community. That's what it's like here, with many small farms that would be said by many to be in a time warp. Ravilious only told it like it was. He certainly didn't have to look very far or hard for his subjects, but the difference was that he was there in all winds and weathers, very early and very late, when the rest of us were still tucked up in bed, and did such a fine job of capturing the essence of those scenes and people around him.
Steve
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That`s an interesting comment Steve.
I was going to add to my comment that times had not changed that much down there.
I deleted it because its been a few years since I was last in Devon feared that I was out of date.
I was always a summer visitor but I know ,and its apparent from the photographs ,that the weather can be harsh.
I`d not want to be out and about with a camera like he was at times like that.
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Originally Posted by michael markey
That`s an interesting comment Steve.
I was going to add to my comment that times had not changed that much down there.
I deleted it because its been a few years since I was last in Devon feared that I was out of date.
I was always a summer visitor but I know ,and its apparent from the photographs ,that the weather can be harsh.
I`d not want to be out and about with a camera like he was at times like that.
No, you're not out of date, Michael. Whilst there are of course some larger farms that are run along modern lines, there are plenty of examples of things not having moved on very much. Until only a couple of years ago, a farmer I knew used a shire horse to work his farm for the simple reason that most of his land was too steep to work by tractor. (Curiously, when the farmer died, the horse died not long after!) Only a mile away from where I live is a farm that still doesn't have mains electricity and you wouldn't have to look too hard to find other examples of that.
One more aspect that Ravilious would have had to overcome was to gain the trust of those he photographed in order to get the results he did. The farming community can be protective of itself and suspicious of anyone pointing a camera. Farming has always had to 'work around' the law here and there (it's not all like that chap Adam's farm on Countrywise!) and I can well imagine that a farmer might worry that any misdemeanours captured for ever on film might find their way to the authorities. The standard joke around here used to be that when the Ministry man came around, a certain number of sheep had to shipped from farm to farm so the count-up in the fields would tally with the number claimed for on the subsidy paperwork!
Steve
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Steve
Yes that is the other aspect that comes over in his work...he gained the trust of the farming community.
I`ll declare my hand here...since retiring I look after my daughters horse and other horses so spend my day on a farm.
Also involved with the local drag hunt.
Grandfather was a farmer so guess there`s a genetic link at work 
These communities are often as you describe.
Not to long ago I met up with a prof photographer who was attemping to emulate Ravilious and had lined up some possible farms.
He was looking for an introduction but unfortunatley I didn`t know any of the families.
I`m surprised that he got the shots he did.
I don`t think that a street shooting approach would have got him far.
Michael
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Originally Posted by michael markey
I don`t think that a street shooting approach would have got him far.
Michael
A street shooting approach to a farmer down this way might provoke a two-word invitation to depart, a flea-infested collie sinking its teeth into his ankle, a close-up view down a pair of slightly tapering, rusty steel barrels or even a permutation of these!
Like your daughter, my sister is very keen (putting it mildly!) on horses, and I'm frequently subjected to long diatribes about how Dobbin's martingale needs adjusting so that his fetlock doesn't develop a bad case of the glanders or something similar. I nod sagely and try to look as if I know what she's on about!
Steve
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