Talking with John Grindle
Hey my friend! Happy Tuesday and welcome to another appointment with my beloved Inside the Photo series.
I also want to thank you all for the support. That’s always my first thought when I write a new article. Because, without you, all of this would have no reason to be.
So, today’s guest is a photographer with a great black and white portfolio. He’s John and here’s more about him.
I live down on the southwest coast of the UK, in the beautiful county of Dorset. Happily retired after 42 years in IT, I now spend most of my time fishing or photographing this wonderful area. My other passion is cooking, especially over fire/BBQ.
I have taken photos all my life, but it wasn’t until 2011 that I began to learn more about the craft.
My photographic style is now moody minimalist, abstract intimate landscapes, all in black and white. I have recently reverted back to using old film cameras and developing at home. I then digitise my negatives using a digital camera. I can hear you say, “why not just take the photograph with a digital camera”?
I just love the slow process of taking a film photograph, you have to be very selective with your subject, composition and exposure, because every press of the shutter button costs money. Which makes the whole experience more of an event, as opposed to the digital version which can be a little sterile, plus old film cameras are sexier than the modern ones!
Joining the Bridport Camera Club has helped my journey, here members are encouraged to explore new ideas and creativity, it really is different to other camera clubs. https://www.bridportcameraclub.co.uk/
I’m also lucky enough to be a member of a local Monochrome Collective, we meet each month to discuss and critic our photographs. In September we are holding our second exhibition, please do come along if you’re able. https://alisonwebber.co.uk/mono
John’s portfolio is full of rich and deep black and white images. There’s always a clear mood and, like he says, minimalistic style. I can say I feel melancholic when I see these images. Not in the bad meaning. I feel like I want to enjoy some solitude and be with myself contemplating the view before my eyes.
© John Grindle
As like many of you, I have consumed my fair share of YouTube photography channels. Large format photography are the ones I enjoy the most and I have always hankered after a 5×4 camera.
In the end I went for medium format Bronica ETRSI, of course a Hasselblad would have been my dream chose, but was just too expensive. I have been developing my own black & white film at home for a while, so I was ready to go.
Now I needed a project to get my teeth into and this is when I had the idea to photograph the 88 miles of the Dorset Coast, from east to west.
Armed with my Bronica and 25 rolls of Kentmere 100, I started at the far eastern end off the Dorset Coast, Highcliffe Beach and ended on Monmouth Beach, Lyme Regis. I didn’t walk all the way, I would park up and walk a loop back to the car. It took me 28 outings over the winter to complete the journey and in the end I had actually walked 124 miles.
From the start, my intention was to make more abstract intimate seascapes and when confronted with one of Dorset’s iconic views, I would try and find a unique angle on it. I of course failed in this, because they are iconic views for a reason!
The whole journey was filled with memories, mostly from when I was a child and my family would travel along the coast in our 21 foot long cabin cruiser. Happy memories of fishing and spearfishing trips with friends, camping out on beaches and watching the shooting stars above.
Also one very sad memory when I lost my best friend, she was bullied at work and couldn’t take it anymore, so took her life, that spot was a difficult photograph to take.
I’m a big fan of long exposures and this is perfect for seascapes, I know this technique is not liked by many, but I like them, so that’s all that matters. Towards the end I wanted to get even more abstract and investigated pinhole photography. After much research, I converted my camera body cap into a pinhole lens.
My first trip out with my pinhole was on Chesil Beach and the resulting image is one of my favourite of the whole trip. The image really does show the starkness of the 10 mile shingle beach and the anchor in the distance is Portland.
Please visit my website for the rest of my Dorset Coast photographs.
I hope you have enjoyed my words and thank you Matteo for asking me to be part of your wonderful world.
This is one of those images that evokes exactly the feeling I was talking about before. It tells me about stillness, meditation, contemplation. The project described in this story is amazing, I recommend you check it out. It’s incredible how images can bring back memories that seem to have faded in time.
Here below the links where you can enjoy John’s work:
Thanks a lot for sharing this image and its story, John!
Take care and talk soon!