SOLD OUT. There are a few copies left at G David’s Booksellers and at the Cambridge University Press Bookshop. Join the mailing list to hear of the second printing, coming in late spring 2023.
This photo book Focused is a collection of aesthetic musings presented as a photographic and poetic stroll through King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. Opening with a contextual and historic introduction by The Reverend Dr Stephen Cherry, Dean of King’s Chapel, the book has a sense of mindful meandering throughout the interior of the Chapel. Photo book published by Sara Rawlinson Photographic Publishing, it is presented here in book format, and also as a virtual exhibition.
Architecture Photography MasterPrize Winner in Historic Interior (2022). Shortlisted for Rubery Book Award 2021: Nonfiction. Several images from the book and series were shortlisted for International Photo Awards 2020 in two categories: Architecture Historic and Architecture Buildings. Also shortlisted for Historic Photographer of the Year in 2018 and 2019.
Minimalist in its presentation, each chapter starts with a poem by the artist, designed to further enhance the viewer experience of the photographer’s eye. Divided into four Parts, the book follows
- I: Focus – an overview of the wholistic process
- II: Elements – the elemental and artistic deconstruction of the King’s Chapel (what our eyes see)
- III: Changes of State – that occurs after some time has been spent within King’s Chapel (what our mind sees)
- IV: Formed – our mind’s eye that has been reformed (by this new lens)
Excerpt:
“When I first walked into King’s Chapel, I was overwhelmed by the space and its vastness – a common reaction for many who gaze up at the world’s largest fan vaulted ceiling. When my visits increased in number, the vastness kept me speechless: I often was so enveloped in one aspect that would I stumble en route to the next. For hours upon hours, I photographed and I waited – for the sun to shine – for corners to darken – for candles to light – for fog to move. And the series grew… This series contemplates the balance of serenity – between the expansive architecture and its details – between my former career in science and new career in art – between formalism and the sublime – between visual art and poetry – between abstract ambiguity and transparency. These photographs and words together are an attempt to encompass this balancing act. At the most fundamental level, I simply seek to illuminate the unique and remarkable qualities that enable the chapel at King’s College to become King’s Chapel.”
