BARRY EAGLESTONE
My journey into photography began in the early 1990s when I started visiting countries in far away places well beyond Europe. I was fortunate to visit the likes of Tibet and Ethiopia before tourism got there and then to travel along large sections of the ancient Silk Road. Travelling from Xinyiang in the remote outer reaches of China and journeying along the original trading route through the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan following the path of the Indus river as it made its way spectacularly through one of the most mountainous regions in the world. My travels there and also to the likes of Syria, Jordan, Uzbekistan and others gave me the privilege of visiting legendary places such as Damascus, Kashgar,Gilgit , Samarkand and Bukhara which saw few visitors in those days.
Those years revealed a very different world from what I had been used to in Europe. The vibrant cultures, beautiful dilapidated buildings that were still standing somehow, the bursts of colour on the streets and the quirkiness of daily life were a captivating sensory experience.
However, I stopped taking photographs for the best part of 15 years until picking up a camera once more in 2020. I realise that my photography today is so influenced by those earlier experiences. My eye is drawn to textures, to colour combinations or spotting a fragment of beauty hidden within the ordinary.
I prefer the spontaneity of handheld shots taken without use of a tripod, flash or filters. I only use the finest materials. The photographs are inkjet printed on canvas or Hahnemuhle art paper by a top tier fine art print studio. They are produced individually to museum quality standard and each one comes with a signed Certificate of Authenticity. They will look the same in 50 years’ time as they do today. The colours will not fade nor will the paper ‘yellow’.
