Taking pride of place currently at Dimbola Museum and Galleries is an exhibition of atmospheric black and white photographs entitled ‘Iceland-An Easy Calm’.
Compiled entirely on location over a period of 8 years they were taken by Tim Rudman, a renowned award winning fine art photographer.
Tim worked with colour transparencies for a period but returned to his passion for black and white film and the wet processing method. As he said, “Film is becoming more popular again.”
His love affair with photography began in the 1960s whilst he was studying medicine in London. As well as taking photographs he taught himself how to make photo prints in the darkroom. Photography was relegated to the role of a hobby during his 35 years in General Practice but when he retired he devoted his time to photography.
Tim has exhibited in over 50 countries and first visited Iceland in about 2005. Over a period of 8 years he compiled his portfolio of Icelandic works. It was in the 1970s that he first had the yen to visit Iceland.
According to Tim, Iceland has a strong and omnipresent ’Middle Earth’ feel to it. Evidence of its volcanic origin is everywhere. In fact, between 2010 and 2015 there were 3 volcanic eruptions including the original dust cloud that circled our planet. However, this trio could be eclipsed by the overdue re-eruption of their larger neighbour Katli.
Iceland boasts a population of some 330,000 with the centre of the country being uninhabited. This exhibition which shows the many faces and moods of the country continues until 16th July.
A second show at Dimbola is entitled ‘Ferry Tales’ – a group of musicians, writers and photographer Mark Lanigan have brought this exhibition together.
For a year this collective travelled the Solent by ferry creating songs, poems and photographs along the way with the help of the travelling public.
JC Grimshaw and Dom Prag were the music makers while the written word was the domain of Robyn Bolam, Lydia Fulleylove and Philip Hoare.
Red Funnel and Wightlink crossings feature in the photographic examples including birds in flight, a fisherman on Yarmouth Pier, Dawn at Lymington and a stormy afternoon on the Lymington River.
‘At Sea’ an anthology is available as is a CD. On Saturday 22ndApril the Ferry Tales makers will be at Dimbola for a lively afternoon of original music and voices (b).
Brian Hinton MBE from Dimbola introduced Tim Rudman to those at the preview of Tim’s exhibition and extended an invitation to everyone to the Ferry Tales afternoon. Brian also made mention of the fact that Wightlink support Dimbola with transport costs of exhibition material from and to the mainland.
