James Ravilious - Photographer

[Anthony Harvey]

Many thanks, Micah, for the fuller information. I’m following up the Beaford Archive too!

 

[John Bragg]

Thanks for sharing Peter. He is a favorite of mine and I knew a guy who was a Leica dealer in North Devon and he often sold lenses to James. I have a re-print of An English eye and it is essential reading. I look forward to seeing the film again.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

His photography is one of the rare examples how knowledge of painting and talent could to the incredible.

 

[peterm1]

I just remembered why this version of this video is different from the earlier version. It uses different music as its score. I am not sure what the score in this version is - though I would like to know. Perhaps someone can help me in this regard. Ideas????

(I tried to "Shazam" it but as it's not a top ten hit song the app failed miserably and started to sulk. (It does work sometimes with classical music I must admit).

For those who enjoy classical music the original score used Spiegel im Spiegel for cello and piano by Arvo Part. Linked below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZe3mXlnfNc&feature=emb_logo

You will notice the similarities with the new score - both are beautiful, contemplative and rather melancholy. Possibly it is by Arvo Part (he specializes in this kind of music) or maybe Shubert? It has a touch of the Shubert melancholy about it to my ear though I have not listened to much classical music for a few years and have somewhat lost my familiarity with icomposers.

 

[Michael Markey]

(I was composing this when Anthony posted just above, so please excuse any overlap.)

There are a number of resources for those who wish to explore Ravilious' remarkable photography.

The Beaford Archive has scanned and put online 1,700 of JR's photos that the photographer deemed his best (they also show dozens of his contact sheets). Each photo is captioned, and a number of them have comments from people who know something about the subjects of the photos.

Thank you for the links .
The contact sheets ,as always , are fascinating ,

 

[tsiklonaut]

Great documentary of a documentary photographer!

Really shows how important is the background and interest - and how it all translates into a local community you love. It's a very rewarding process where any wider fame (that many current pros take as a marketing "must have") has no meaning in the end - you'll be always loved back by the same local community and in the end from outside too!

 

[Brian Atherton]

Thank you for the link, Peter.

Although I have seen the video before, your post is a timely reminder of what a truly wonderful photographer James was: so empathetic with his subject, poetic while showing the harsh realities of small holder farmers, and his capture of light is just mesmerising.

Such a loss and far too sudden.

In 2015 I saw his father’s (Eric Ravilious) exhibition of watercolours and prints at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. A link is here:

https://www.dulwichpicturegallery.o...e/exhibitions-archive-by-date/2015-ravilious/

 

[CharlesDAMorgan]

Peter, the composer credited is Orlando Roberton, I've tried to find the piece but it's just listed in IMDB as incidental music for this documentary. A friend who leads the BBC concert orchestra suggested he'd probably been commissioned to write something in the style of Part! It has a Schubertian line to it as well, but is rather pretty and soothing.

I just remembered why this version of this video is different from the earlier version. It uses different music as its score. I am not sure what the score in this version is - though I would like to know. Perhaps someone can help me in this regard. Ideas????

(I tried to "Shazam" it but as it's not a top ten hit song the app failed miserably and started to sulk. (It does work sometimes with classical music I must admit).

For those who enjoy classical music the original score used Spiegel im Spiegel for cello and piano by Arvo Part. Linked below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZe3mXlnfNc&feature=emb_logo

You will notice the similarities with the new score - both are beautiful, contemplative and rather melancholy. Possibly it is by Arvo Part (he specializes in this kind of music) or maybe Shubert? It has a touch of the Shubert melancholy about it to my ear though I have not listened to much classical music for a few years and have somewhat lost my familiarity with icomposers.

 

[D.O'K.]

Interesting and appropriate music, although I heard more than a touch of the Moonlight Sonata in it...

Regards,
D.

 

[peterm1]

Peter, the composer credited is Orlando Roberton, I've tried to find the piece but it's just listed in IMDB as incidental music for this documentary. A friend who leads the BBC concert orchestra suggested he'd probably been commissioned to write something in the style of Part! It has a Schubertian line to it as well, but is rather pretty and soothing.

Thanks for this Charles. I must admit I missed the credits - there is a problem with the video at least when played in my browser - it does not allow one to jump forward - you have to watch it from beginning to end and I think I tuned out at some point near the end as the time was late and bed was calling. And I never considered the possibility the music was commissioned for it. Still a bit of a mystery given that the original video was made for UK TV Broadcast and already had a score. Perhaps it was due to a licensing issue with Part's music that forced a change if the license was only for use with TV broadcast media but not with internet.

I checked further on Google and found this reference to Orlando Roberton: "Original, On Brief, Eclectic, Orlando Roberton is the founder and primary composer for Pixelphonics, a music production company that specialises in original composition and sound design for television, advertising, film and online media."

In other words it certainly seems a strong possibility. Or perhaps was already composed by him for another project and known to the person who republished the video. In any event it is pleasant music and fitting to the subject matter.

 

[peterm1]

For those who are interested in the rural life depicted in James Ravilious' photos, you may be interested in a TV series I have been watching from the early 2000's called "Tales From The Green Valley". It's a documentary mini series (12 episodes) in which a small group of archeologists and historians lived in an old farm on the Welsh Borders for 12 months, living the life of a simple farming family in the early 1600's during the reign of James 1. The same group have made several such projects set in various historical periods and I find them all interesting though perhaps this, which seems to be one of the first, is one of the most interesting. Its quite engrossing for those who are curious about this kind of social history.

Something I found to be particularly interesting were the parallels with the life depicted by Ravilious in the late 1900's. It seems that life in some parts of rural England did not change too fast over the centuries. I guess that until large scale technological farming, transport and supermarkets came along it was all pretty much dictated by the cycle of seasons which were more or less static year to year, rather than the demands of the market - which drove change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRj1YYnsBGk&list=PL6LJQOAaGj2magtWkqqRQOUKF9SOK-IIt&index=1