Photo: Paddy Doyle
Llanthony Secunda Priory gallery
Look again at the past present and future
Llanthony Secunda Priory in Gloucester generously offered to host an additional in person mindful photography workshop in late October 2020, as part of their Llanthropology project. This was funded by Historic England. We invited participants from the previous four courses to attend the workshop. Only five of them could make it so we offered the remainder places to people who had taken part in another recent Look Again project relating to photography for wellbeing in partnership with the Canal River Trust and the National Waterways Museum in Gloucester. Five people signed up from this and eight people attended on the day.
Ruth Davey’s photos below document the workshop, in which we explored the theme Past, Present and Future, using a blend of mindful photography, the natural and built environment, and an introduction to Look Again’s 7Cs+ framework for building resilience and imagining the future we would like to create. More information about this can be found here.
Looking again at the textures and colours of the old and new bricks and mortar.
Getting in really close, with curiosity.
Mindfully looking, looking again and seeing with fresh eyes
Reframing the outdoors from indoors.
Exploring the past and the present with curiosity.
Using photos to build resilience using Look Again's 7Cs+ framework.
Sharing thoughts and meaning from a photograph.
Creating our own photographs using the 7Cs+ framework.
We just had to get a group shot!
Clair Hogdson
A medieval 'pause button' perhaps
Looking through the window in the door.
The edge of a world in the window sill.
The pattern of contrasts of the edges of old and new materials.
Reflections on the floor.
Peeling surfaces
Looking at these images, I'm captivated by the 'little worlds' revealed. In the details of the surfaces and textures of the building, I see the edges of these tiny landscapes, blurred, or crisp as a knife blade; combined with an ambiguity of what is real, reflected, reversed and imagined.
Clare Redwood
Wall near centre in Brick Range There’s the metal piece sticking out and at this angle looking up the wall has a different prospectus than just looking straight at it.
Tree next to Medieval Range. Trees can have a story of their own to tell. They can be strong and determined to grow and live despite nature, the weather etc. They can have unusual shapes and patterns. I like how the trunk is thicker in different places near where the branches leave the trunk.
Window in the Medieval Range. Texture, reflection and patterns everywhere.
Window in the Brick Range. Red window frames I feel are different. The reflection of the Farmhouse and people in this photo adds interest I feel.
Wall in the Brick Range. Aged and patched or left is more interesting than new!
Wall at far end in Brick Range. Texture, it’s as if I can feel it in my heart without having to touch the wall.
Glynn Williams
Confused.
Completed by shadow.
Tangled.
Bent, not broken.
Micro mountain?
Towering above.
I have learnt that slowing down and looking at things with a different mindset can really help slow your mind down. The course has benefited my mental well-being by allowing me to slow down, take me away from my worries and cares, and centring me. I will definitely be continuing with mindfulness photography, alone or as part of a group, going forward.
Julie Dunkley
Looking through the new to the old.
Look to the heavens.
The Manor House. They always say have an extension if you can, it was no different in those days.
I’m sure the Priory would have definitely been the first to have electric light. When it came in, in the 1800’s.
As the song says, I’m Still Standing. After most of the outer buildings were demolished after the siege of Gloucester in 1643. This Chapel was going nowhere.
The humble brick, stone and lime mortar. The foundation of a good building.
I learnt a lot about the history of Llanthony Priory, which was fascinating. It has also been a lifesaver to be able to get out and have something constructive to do. You have put me back on a path of photography of which I love. As well as meeting up and connecting with people.
Liam Whelan
Surfaces.
Ground up.
Shapes, shadows and sunlight.
Hangers.
Apart.
Lines, squares and brickwork.
Michelle Spilsbury
This is me in the old building, locked in, this is how I saw myself in the last few months and still where I am. I can see the outside and I can see where I want to be.
This is the light on the wall, gradually the days will get better. There are no bars on the windows and the light is gradually seeping through
This is seeing things in more colour, I am trying to speed up the process to get to where I want to be. I want out of the old, the black and the white, the stark difficulty and into the softer brighter colour.
Still behind the ‘old’ wall, the fungi made me compare the old with the new as in the next picture. I could stand on tip toes and see over the wall, not shut in anymore, out in the air and not shut in.
You can just go in and buy the mushrooms, nothing difficult, nothing to be wary of. NO need to worry that the mushrooms might be poisonous, they have been checked, I don’t need to check them.
This is where I am headed... The fixed line will lead me up to the light. The new window in the old building and I am getting out of the old and away and I am at some point going to be putting all the old behind me and moving in to the new. It feels exciting and fresh and new
Paddy Doyle
The first photo is what looked like to me to be two upright tile ends, they are actually red in colour but to pick out the texture of the mortar, I played around with the hue and saturation to get the green and bluish colours. I like the smooth ends of the tiles and rough texture of the mortar.
The top part of a stone window. I love the lines, the very skilled craftmanship in creating them and also the K like shape on its side. The dark shaded areas also make you wonder what is inside, so perhaps someone will look again and see?
Very small coloured stones trapped in a hole and crack in the sleepers used for steps. How long have they been there? Why are there so many different colours? What created the colours? What is the name of the minerals? So many questions beneath our feet as we walk and step every day without knowing what is there.
The rusty sign can be found in three different places and I choose this one as the setting sun was shining on it by the canal so I could get a good shadow of my camera on the tripod. To me photography is a way that is used to record and express the words on the sign, so having the shadow on it helped express that thought of mine.
The walls are made with texture rich, large thick stone, so giving protection and peace of mind, then through the gap is light, giving hope, warmth and energy.
I love the texture of the tree trunk and ivy growing around it, with the old stones at the bottom and leaves gathering around it. I get a sense of strength from both the tree and the large heavy stones, both are giving life and support to other things like the ivy and lichen, then through and under the sunlight autumn coloured leaves in the background is a bench, it is a place to relax, contemplate what is going on in life and with nature as the world goes by.
I have learnt that there is hope, there is more than you can see, to calm down and not let my head get fuzzy and clouded. Whenever I take part in Look Again sessions, I get a great feeling of brightness, hope, my mind becomes creative, I allow myself to relax and zone into subjects that you would not really care about then you see that there is actually more than you think. I can struggle with having several things going on in my mind at the same time but these mindfulness photography sessions help me relax and take control, there are other things in my life that when I think about them, I get a dark cloud, but I have never had that once in any of the mindfulness sessions. It has brightened up my life and gave me the opportunity to give others the chance to continue and share with their mindfulness photography away from these sessions.
Tatia Nichols-Arles
Meeting of material worlds.
Bikini gate.
Orange and blue.
Come together.
Viewfinder.
While on this workshop, I found myself drawn to periphery of the Priory, to the outer walls where the new modern world seemed to rub against its history. It was in this juxtaposition that I found my photographic inspiration.
“It has been a lifesaver to be able to get out and have something constructive to do. You have put me back on a path of photography of which I love.”
— Julie Dunkley