I learned from my friend Mary that John Blakemore had recently died.
https://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/john-blakemore-1936-2025
Mary and I first met when we attended one of John's residential workshops at Paul Hill's "The Photographer's Place" in 1979. We went to see him at his home in Derby about a year later, when John was in his Tulip period. My VW Beetle engine blew up on the way back.
He was a gentle and sensitive man who produced prints that simply glowed. I bought a couple from him at a bargain price and they still look great.
I remember John recalling that he swapped an original print of Edward Weston's Pepper Number 30 for Minor White's book "Mirrors, Messages, Manifestations", which prompted me to get out my own (rather battered) copy.
Pages 142 to 147
"Three Canons...
Be still with yourself
Until the object of your attention
Affirms its presence
Let the subject generate its own composition
When the image mirrors the man
And the man mirrors the subject
Something might take over"
Wonderful, wonderful stuff!
Now, where did I put that Edward Weston print?
Mary went on to teach photography at Brighton Polytechnic and conducted research into the life of Lee Miller at Sussex University.
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