John Blakemore: Earthly Delights

“Inspiration is a myth. Just go and play.”

These were the words John Blakemore would divine upon conflicted students whilst lecturing at the University of Derby. 

Widely regarded as a master of darkroom photography, John Blakemore is celebrated for the richness and textures that he creates within his prints. Using a technical harmony of the 5×4 film medium, the Zone System and an incredible mastery of the darkroom printing process, he creates a signature tonal richness and opulence within his photography worthy of the title.  

Using nature as his muse, John captures landscapes inspired by texture and space that can be appreciated by audiences regardless of their knowledge of the skill behind the printing. Rustling silver birch trees and the movement of water are halted and brought to the eye of the viewer in a seeming instant.

A calm is created in John’s prints in which time feels torn between endlessness and standstill- it’s the microsecond before the intake of breath as the viewer notices the beauty of a petal, rock pool, fern or other aspects of nature that can elude us all too easily. We are invited to experience this moment that he has discovered… before, we presume, the moment ends and continues beyond our solitary experience- the birdsong picked back up beyond the lens, the water bubbles slithered by and the fern fronds once again twitched in the breeze. John stated on the process of his landscapes:

“To be alone in the landscape can be an intense and moving experience. At times one feels a oneness with nature; at other times the landscape feels hostile.”

A description similar to his experience of the darkroom, a place of both wonders and intensity for all who experienced it:

“I always loved the darkroom: the isolation, the cloistered quiet, the dim ambience and the muted sound of running water.”

John would share this magic when teaching students, who with him would discover the still and fervent moment in the darkroom where an image started to appear as the paper swirled around the developing chemical, the dash to dodge or burn the print as light passed through the negative- the held breath as they brought their prints out into the light for the first time. 

At a time where the conflict between analogue and digital photography seemed to be going in digital’s favour, he effortlessly showed the wonder of darkroom printing. Trancelike, assured, attentive, he would move around the darkroom to produce prints of such quality as to appear like velvet on the page… before later going on to tear them up. A practice to prevent unknown sales of his works, understandable but horrifying to witness as a student all the same. The conflict of creation and destruction was something to come to terms within the darkroom, a place where negatives and prints often wouldn’t turn out the way anticipated. 

Similarly, when the landscapes John captured began to change due to human damage and interference, he turned to natural items brought in from his garden, creating the iconic Tulips still life series. 

John described the tulip as a “flower of constant metamorphosis”, becoming for him an ‘object of attention and fascination’ for many years to come. Capturing life, death, generations and mutations of tulips, his photographs were a result of meditation, care and consideration of the flower that had caught his inspiration. 

In 2024, Derby Museums accessioned 12 photographic prints of John’s into the collection of the city he had called home for over 50 years, bringing together prints from a range of projects including his iconic tulips and his Derbyshire and Wales landscapes. This new collection brings together a life’s dedication to technical skill, analogue practice and celebrating the natural world around us. 

It encourages us once more to witness that age old conflict between the decisive moment of the photograph and the flowing of time. It asks us to rediscover the joy of the thoughtful and meditative processes of analogue at a time where digital is monarch. Most of all, it is a swansong to the brilliance of John Blakemore, a man of endless inspiration, wit and skill. 

Participant

John Blakemore