The Photographic Journey - The Brian Northmore Story

The Restorative Landscape

My relationship with photography began in 1987 chasing airshows in the UK with a very manual Practika Super TL and Hanimex 200mm lens inherited from my Grand Father. It was pure exhilarating sport, with manual focus, a manual film winder. Chasing those moments with my girlfriend was the best start to photography I could have had. But it can be a cruel world. And following the conclusion of that first magical relationship and a subsequent unexplained illness - which threatened to blind me. Photography was transformed from a casual hobby into a life-saving pillar of support. It became a settling, grounding, non-reactive space where I could slow my thoughts and quiet the noise of the world. Ever since my view of the through the camera lens has been an anchor for my mind in turbulent sea.

The Discipline of Constraint

My creative philosophy was forged in the darkroom, where I learned to transform a raw negative into a pre-visualised finished print, completing the vital connection between the landscape caught in the field and the artist’s visualisation. This discipline deepened years later when I became a father to two amazing children. As traveling further afield naturally took a back seat to family life, with holidays reserved strictly for family, I looked closer to home for my subjects.

Living less than an hour from the Dartmoor National Park, I created the Dartmoor 20 project, committing exclusively to black and white photography for an entire decade. When the pandemic restricted travel and photography in 2020, it forced me to extend the Dartmoor project by several years, cementing a profound, intimate relationship with the land. Today, I approach modern digital photography with greater freedom, no longer restricted by a single project, but my commitment to meticulous field-craft, and solid skills learnt decades ago remains unchanged. My digital works honours traditional darkroom processes with limited edits to strengthen the connection from field to print.

The Shared Community

In my formative years, I joined the Plymstock Camera Club, a society holding immense personal significance as it was originally founded by my late grandfather. Later, I spent decades in the local scene with Plymouth Camera Club, serving the membership as external competition secretary and publicity officer for 10 years. While post-pandemic time constraints mean I can no longer attend weekly club meetings, I remain deeply involved through guest lectures and practical workshops. These spaces are my way of passing on hard-earned knowledge, passion, and skills. They allow me to keep the intentional spirit of photography alive, sharing the same restorative power that grounded me with a chaotic modern world.

The Full Circle

My children are older now. My marriage having run its course and come to a natural end, life brought my journey into a magnificent full circle. Two years ago, my partner from over thirty years ago returned to my side. Like soul mates reunited, we are once again looking toward a future of shared experiences, just as we did at the dawn of our lives when we first discovered camping and the wild landscapes of Cornwall and the Lake District. I do not know what new horizons will open up next through my lens, but I am moving forward into this next chapter with a profound, revitalised excitement for the journey ahead. And Invite you collectors of fine art prints, hikers looking to bring a piece of the landscape back home, and the photographic community to join me on the rest of the journey.