View allAll Photos Tagged Ravilious,
Leek Livestock Auction, Leek, Staffordshire. October 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
My second shoot for The Rural Eye archive project, and the staff and customers at Leek were really getting used to my presence and the idea that I am 'on their side' so to speak.
I had a cuppa and a long chat with Bruce Daniel, one of the senior auctioneers about the work. Bruce told me about how Leek is the last livestock market in all of Staffordshire, as my research had suggested. In fact there used by many, one every 12 miles at least, ensuring that no farmer had to walk his cattle more than 6 miles to market. There was a livestock auction in my own town of Newcastle-under-Lyme until 1994, but in the last few decades they have closed with farmers now having to drive their cattle to Leek or other auctions over the county borders.
Today I found myself really engaged with the animals, especially the sheep who are fascinated by the camera pointing at them. I do find something rather surreal about the sheep, of course their situation of being sold for food or breeding is something they are unaware of, but they always carry a worried look that as a human I can't help but translate anthropomorphically. As an ardent meat eater, I feel that I am gaining an understanding of the industry that feeds me, and I am not seeing anything negative at all, just people doing their best to raise their herds and flocks, to try and make a living in a hard and tough industry and economic climate.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The Christmas Dressed Poultry Sale at Leek Livestock Auction, Leek, Staffordshire. December 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
A third visit to Leek Livestock Auction, but this time for the Christmas Dressed Poultry auction which attracts a mixture of rural people and those city folk who are in the know.
This was a frenetic few hours with hundreds of turkeys being auctioned, as well as a quantity of geese, ducks and other poultry, even live birds. Since I was there I decided to purchase a turkey for my own Christmas dinner and my vegetarian fiance got over excited and bid on a huge turkey, but at close to £1 per pound, the price was fantastic.
Auctioneers, Bruce Daniel and Robert Watkins took turns on the podium, with Graham Watkins and Mark Elliott amongst others running the floor. People from all walks of life were there and I will certainly be back every year for my annual turkey purchase.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The Royal Albert Memorial Museum is newly opened in Exeter after being closed for some years.
I went mainly to see the exhibition of photographs by James Ravilious. James Ravilious took photos in North Devon of the rural community he lived in. The b & W photos in the exhibition date from the 1970's and 1980's. If you are interested in photography, make every effort to see this exhibition before it closes on the 29th July.
This is a photo of a side wing of the Museum at the end of Gandy street, the front of the building and the entrance is in Queen street.
Park Hill Farm, Hales, Shropshire. November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Pat Pimlott was kind enough to allow me to visit and photograph on their farm near Loggerheads. Park Hill produce 'happy meat', beef and pork which they take to sell at markets in and around Staffordshire under their own brand. With award winning sausages and an approach that prioritises animal welfare, they produce great tasting meat with a concentration on the ecology and welfare of their historic farm. Pat also welcomes many schools by arrangement, giving young people an insight into farming life and the reality of where meat comes from.
I spent a few hours wandering their land, investigating the hundred year old barn, the jittery young cattle, the curious pigs and the landscape itself. I was particularly interested in the old which has been used since around 1900 and today houses the adult cattle through the worst of our winter weather. It was a milking shed when Pat's father ran it after the war, and I was fascinated with the details left behind from that era. I do plan to return to Park Hill Farm in the early Spring, hopefully to catch them working in the fields with the animals and also to get some more detail shots in the old barn, but with a tripod this time so that I can do it justice. A wonderful day, and my thanks go to Pat for allowing me to be there and spending so much time talking me through their current practices and past histories.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Dairy Cottage Farm, Apedale, Staffordshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Dairy Cottage, despite the name, is a large beef farm which also produces feed (silage and haylage) for their own cattle and for sale to other local farms. With a mixture of modern and very old building as well as some antique farm machinery, this was a wonderful place to spend a day and the family really made me feel welcome and were happy to take part in The Rural Eye project.
The weather was very poor on this day and all the cattle were of course in for the winter, but I will be returning in the next season to photograph again and catch the farm under different conditions.
Many thanks to Tracey, Royston and Tom Pepper.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The Christmas Dressed Poultry Sale at Leek Livestock Auction, Leek, Staffordshire. December 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
A third visit to Leek Livestock Auction, but this time for the Christmas Dressed Poultry auction which attracts a mixture of rural people and those city folk who are in the know.
This was a frenetic few hours with hundreds of turkeys being auctioned, as well as a quantity of geese, ducks and other poultry, even live birds. Since I was there I decided to purchase a turkey for my own Christmas dinner and my vegetarian fiance got over excited and bid on a huge turkey, but at close to £1 per pound, the price was fantastic.
Auctioneers, Bruce Daniel and Robert Watkins took turns on the podium, with Graham Watkins and Mark Elliott amongst others running the floor. People from all walks of life were there and I will certainly be back every year for my annual turkey purchase.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The English Winter Fair 2012, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire. 18th November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Simon Wragg, press officer for The English Winter Fair, supplied me with a press pass for this event and I am very grateful to him for that.
This was a huge event including the tasting of cooked food, a carcass hang, all manner of cattle and a huge show ring where animals were presented at their best for prizes. I had never been to such an event before and it was great to see many familiar faces there, people I have met at Leek and Market Drayton livestock auctions on previous shoots. While I was aware of the 'showing' of cattle, in a similar vein to a dog show really, I was still surprised to see young people brushing and even blow-drying their prize cattle, spraying them with glitter and taking a real pride in their animals.
This was a coming together of hundreds of local producers, as well as some farmers from around the country, even from Scotland. There was a festival atmosphere and again the social aspect was very evident. I am now going to pursue more such events for the archive, including ones in Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and possibly even further afield if the opportunity presents.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Park Hill Farm, Hales, Shropshire. November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Pat Pimlott was kind enough to allow me to visit and photograph on their farm near Loggerheads. Park Hill produce 'happy meat', beef and pork which they take to sell at markets in and around Staffordshire under their own brand. With award winning sausages and an approach that prioritises animal welfare, they produce great tasting meat with a concentration on the ecology and welfare of their historic farm. Pat also welcomes many schools by arrangement, giving young people an insight into farming life and the reality of where meat comes from.
I spent a few hours wandering their land, investigating the hundred year old barn, the jittery young cattle, the curious pigs and the landscape itself. I was particularly interested in the old which has been used since around 1900 and today houses the adult cattle through the worst of our winter weather. It was a milking shed when Pat's father ran it after the war, and I was fascinated with the details left behind from that era. I do plan to return to Park Hill Farm in the early Spring, hopefully to catch them working in the fields with the animals and also to get some more detail shots in the old barn, but with a tripod this time so that I can do it justice. A wonderful day, and my thanks go to Pat for allowing me to be there and spending so much time talking me through their current practices and past histories.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Park Hill Farm, Hales, Shropshire. November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Pat Pimlott was kind enough to allow me to visit and photograph on their farm near Loggerheads. Park Hill produce 'happy meat', beef and pork which they take to sell at markets in and around Staffordshire under their own brand. With award winning sausages and an approach that prioritises animal welfare, they produce great tasting meat with a concentration on the ecology and welfare of their historic farm. Pat also welcomes many schools by arrangement, giving young people an insight into farming life and the reality of where meat comes from.
I spent a few hours wandering their land, investigating the hundred year old barn, the jittery young cattle, the curious pigs and the landscape itself. I was particularly interested in the old which has been used since around 1900 and today houses the adult cattle through the worst of our winter weather. It was a milking shed when Pat's father ran it after the war, and I was fascinated with the details left behind from that era. I do plan to return to Park Hill Farm in the early Spring, hopefully to catch them working in the fields with the animals and also to get some more detail shots in the old barn, but with a tripod this time so that I can do it justice. A wonderful day, and my thanks go to Pat for allowing me to be there and spending so much time talking me through their current practices and past histories.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Leek Livestock Auction, Leek, Staffordshire. October 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
My second shoot for The Rural Eye archive project, and the staff and customers at Leek were really getting used to my presence and the idea that I am 'on their side' so to speak.
I had a cuppa and a long chat with Bruce Daniel, one of the senior auctioneers about the work. Bruce told me about how Leek is the last livestock market in all of Staffordshire, as my research had suggested. In fact there used by many, one every 12 miles at least, ensuring that no farmer had to walk his cattle more than 6 miles to market. There was a livestock auction in my own town of Newcastle-under-Lyme until 1994, but in the last few decades they have closed with farmers now having to drive their cattle to Leek or other auctions over the county borders.
Today I found myself really engaged with the animals, especially the sheep who are fascinated by the camera pointing at them. I do find something rather surreal about the sheep, of course their situation of being sold for food or breeding is something they are unaware of, but they always carry a worried look that as a human I can't help but translate anthropomorphically. As an ardent meat eater, I feel that I am gaining an understanding of the industry that feeds me, and I am not seeing anything negative at all, just people doing their best to raise their herds and flocks, to try and make a living in a hard and tough industry and economic climate.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Dairy Cottage Farm, Apedale, Staffordshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Dairy Cottage, despite the name, is a large beef farm which also produces feed (silage and haylage) for their own cattle and for sale to other local farms. With a mixture of modern and very old building as well as some antique farm machinery, this was a wonderful place to spend a day and the family really made me feel welcome and were happy to take part in The Rural Eye project.
The weather was very poor on this day and all the cattle were of course in for the winter, but I will be returning in the next season to photograph again and catch the farm under different conditions.
Many thanks to Tracey, Royston and Tom Pepper.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Classic Sea-View room #118 at the refurbished Midland Hotel, Morecambe. The interior design features this innovative wood module concealing the bathroom, wardrobe, television and fridge - see the next photo.
Designed in Streamline Moderne style by architect Oliver Hill, with sculptures by Eric Gill, the hotel was built by the London Midland & Scottish Railway and opened in 1933. It finally closed in 1998 and lay derelict until it was restored in 2006-2008 and reopened as a hotel again.
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Park Hill Farm, Hales, Shropshire. November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Pat Pimlott was kind enough to allow me to visit and photograph on their farm near Loggerheads. Park Hill produce 'happy meat', beef and pork which they take to sell at markets in and around Staffordshire under their own brand. With award winning sausages and an approach that prioritises animal welfare, they produce great tasting meat with a concentration on the ecology and welfare of their historic farm. Pat also welcomes many schools by arrangement, giving young people an insight into farming life and the reality of where meat comes from.
I spent a few hours wandering their land, investigating the hundred year old barn, the jittery young cattle, the curious pigs and the landscape itself. I was particularly interested in the old which has been used since around 1900 and today houses the adult cattle through the worst of our winter weather. It was a milking shed when Pat's father ran it after the war, and I was fascinated with the details left behind from that era. I do plan to return to Park Hill Farm in the early Spring, hopefully to catch them working in the fields with the animals and also to get some more detail shots in the old barn, but with a tripod this time so that I can do it justice. A wonderful day, and my thanks go to Pat for allowing me to be there and spending so much time talking me through their current practices and past histories.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The English Winter Fair 2012, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire. 18th November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Simon Wragg, press officer for The English Winter Fair, supplied me with a press pass for this event and I am very grateful to him for that.
This was a huge event including the tasting of cooked food, a carcass hang, all manner of cattle and a huge show ring where animals were presented at their best for prizes. I had never been to such an event before and it was great to see many familiar faces there, people I have met at Leek and Market Drayton livestock auctions on previous shoots. While I was aware of the 'showing' of cattle, in a similar vein to a dog show really, I was still surprised to see young people brushing and even blow-drying their prize cattle, spraying them with glitter and taking a real pride in their animals.
This was a coming together of hundreds of local producers, as well as some farmers from around the country, even from Scotland. There was a festival atmosphere and again the social aspect was very evident. I am now going to pursue more such events for the archive, including ones in Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and possibly even further afield if the opportunity presents.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Leek Livestock Auction, Leek, Staffordshire. October 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
My second shoot for The Rural Eye archive project, and the staff and customers at Leek were really getting used to my presence and the idea that I am 'on their side' so to speak.
I had a cuppa and a long chat with Bruce Daniel, one of the senior auctioneers about the work. Bruce told me about how Leek is the last livestock market in all of Staffordshire, as my research had suggested. In fact there used by many, one every 12 miles at least, ensuring that no farmer had to walk his cattle more than 6 miles to market. There was a livestock auction in my own town of Newcastle-under-Lyme until 1994, but in the last few decades they have closed with farmers now having to drive their cattle to Leek or other auctions over the county borders.
Today I found myself really engaged with the animals, especially the sheep who are fascinated by the camera pointing at them. I do find something rather surreal about the sheep, of course their situation of being sold for food or breeding is something they are unaware of, but they always carry a worried look that as a human I can't help but translate anthropomorphically. As an ardent meat eater, I feel that I am gaining an understanding of the industry that feeds me, and I am not seeing anything negative at all, just people doing their best to raise their herds and flocks, to try and make a living in a hard and tough industry and economic climate.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Park Hill Farm, Hales, Shropshire. November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Pat Pimlott was kind enough to allow me to visit and photograph on their farm near Loggerheads. Park Hill produce 'happy meat', beef and pork which they take to sell at markets in and around Staffordshire under their own brand. With award winning sausages and an approach that prioritises animal welfare, they produce great tasting meat with a concentration on the ecology and welfare of their historic farm. Pat also welcomes many schools by arrangement, giving young people an insight into farming life and the reality of where meat comes from.
I spent a few hours wandering their land, investigating the hundred year old barn, the jittery young cattle, the curious pigs and the landscape itself. I was particularly interested in the old which has been used since around 1900 and today houses the adult cattle through the worst of our winter weather. It was a milking shed when Pat's father ran it after the war, and I was fascinated with the details left behind from that era. I do plan to return to Park Hill Farm in the early Spring, hopefully to catch them working in the fields with the animals and also to get some more detail shots in the old barn, but with a tripod this time so that I can do it justice. A wonderful day, and my thanks go to Pat for allowing me to be there and spending so much time talking me through their current practices and past histories.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The English Winter Fair 2012, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire. 18th November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Simon Wragg, press officer for The English Winter Fair, supplied me with a press pass for this event and I am very grateful to him for that.
This was a huge event including the tasting of cooked food, a carcass hang, all manner of cattle and a huge show ring where animals were presented at their best for prizes. I had never been to such an event before and it was great to see many familiar faces there, people I have met at Leek and Market Drayton livestock auctions on previous shoots. While I was aware of the 'showing' of cattle, in a similar vein to a dog show really, I was still surprised to see young people brushing and even blow-drying their prize cattle, spraying them with glitter and taking a real pride in their animals.
This was a coming together of hundreds of local producers, as well as some farmers from around the country, even from Scotland. There was a festival atmosphere and again the social aspect was very evident. I am now going to pursue more such events for the archive, including ones in Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and possibly even further afield if the opportunity presents.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The English Winter Fair 2012, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire. 18th November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Simon Wragg, press officer for The English Winter Fair, supplied me with a press pass for this event and I am very grateful to him for that.
This was a huge event including the tasting of cooked food, a carcass hang, all manner of cattle and a huge show ring where animals were presented at their best for prizes. I had never been to such an event before and it was great to see many familiar faces there, people I have met at Leek and Market Drayton livestock auctions on previous shoots. While I was aware of the 'showing' of cattle, in a similar vein to a dog show really, I was still surprised to see young people brushing and even blow-drying their prize cattle, spraying them with glitter and taking a real pride in their animals.
This was a coming together of hundreds of local producers, as well as some farmers from around the country, even from Scotland. There was a festival atmosphere and again the social aspect was very evident. I am now going to pursue more such events for the archive, including ones in Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and possibly even further afield if the opportunity presents.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Dairy Cottage Farm, Apedale, Staffordshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Dairy Cottage, despite the name, is a large beef farm which also produces feed (silage and haylage) for their own cattle and for sale to other local farms. With a mixture of modern and very old building as well as some antique farm machinery, this was a wonderful place to spend a day and the family really made me feel welcome and were happy to take part in The Rural Eye project.
The weather was very poor on this day and all the cattle were of course in for the winter, but I will be returning in the next season to photograph again and catch the farm under different conditions.
Many thanks to Tracey, Royston and Tom Pepper.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The English Winter Fair 2012, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire. 18th November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Simon Wragg, press officer for The English Winter Fair, supplied me with a press pass for this event and I am very grateful to him for that.
This was a huge event including the tasting of cooked food, a carcass hang, all manner of cattle and a huge show ring where animals were presented at their best for prizes. I had never been to such an event before and it was great to see many familiar faces there, people I have met at Leek and Market Drayton livestock auctions on previous shoots. While I was aware of the 'showing' of cattle, in a similar vein to a dog show really, I was still surprised to see young people brushing and even blow-drying their prize cattle, spraying them with glitter and taking a real pride in their animals.
This was a coming together of hundreds of local producers, as well as some farmers from around the country, even from Scotland. There was a festival atmosphere and again the social aspect was very evident. I am now going to pursue more such events for the archive, including ones in Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and possibly even further afield if the opportunity presents.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Dairy Cottage Farm, Apedale, Staffordshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Dairy Cottage, despite the name, is a large beef farm which also produces feed (silage and haylage) for their own cattle and for sale to other local farms. With a mixture of modern and very old building as well as some antique farm machinery, this was a wonderful place to spend a day and the family really made me feel welcome and were happy to take part in The Rural Eye project.
The weather was very poor on this day and all the cattle were of course in for the winter, but I will be returning in the next season to photograph again and catch the farm under different conditions.
Many thanks to Tracey, Royston and Tom Pepper.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Dairy Cottage Farm, Apedale, Staffordshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Dairy Cottage, despite the name, is a large beef farm which also produces feed (silage and haylage) for their own cattle and for sale to other local farms. With a mixture of modern and very old building as well as some antique farm machinery, this was a wonderful place to spend a day and the family really made me feel welcome and were happy to take part in The Rural Eye project.
The weather was very poor on this day and all the cattle were of course in for the winter, but I will be returning in the next season to photograph again and catch the farm under different conditions.
Many thanks to Tracey, Royston and Tom Pepper.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The English Winter Fair 2012, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire. 18th November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Simon Wragg, press officer for The English Winter Fair, supplied me with a press pass for this event and I am very grateful to him for that.
This was a huge event including the tasting of cooked food, a carcass hang, all manner of cattle and a huge show ring where animals were presented at their best for prizes. I had never been to such an event before and it was great to see many familiar faces there, people I have met at Leek and Market Drayton livestock auctions on previous shoots. While I was aware of the 'showing' of cattle, in a similar vein to a dog show really, I was still surprised to see young people brushing and even blow-drying their prize cattle, spraying them with glitter and taking a real pride in their animals.
This was a coming together of hundreds of local producers, as well as some farmers from around the country, even from Scotland. There was a festival atmosphere and again the social aspect was very evident. I am now going to pursue more such events for the archive, including ones in Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and possibly even further afield if the opportunity presents.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The Christmas Dressed Poultry Sale at Leek Livestock Auction, Leek, Staffordshire. December 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
A third visit to Leek Livestock Auction, but this time for the Christmas Dressed Poultry auction which attracts a mixture of rural people and those city folk who are in the know.
This was a frenetic few hours with hundreds of turkeys being auctioned, as well as a quantity of geese, ducks and other poultry, even live birds. Since I was there I decided to purchase a turkey for my own Christmas dinner and my vegetarian fiance got over excited and bid on a huge turkey, but at close to £1 per pound, the price was fantastic.
Auctioneers, Bruce Daniel and Robert Watkins took turns on the podium, with Graham Watkins and Mark Elliott amongst others running the floor. People from all walks of life were there and I will certainly be back every year for my annual turkey purchase.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The English Winter Fair 2012, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire. 18th November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Simon Wragg, press officer for The English Winter Fair, supplied me with a press pass for this event and I am very grateful to him for that.
This was a huge event including the tasting of cooked food, a carcass hang, all manner of cattle and a huge show ring where animals were presented at their best for prizes. I had never been to such an event before and it was great to see many familiar faces there, people I have met at Leek and Market Drayton livestock auctions on previous shoots. While I was aware of the 'showing' of cattle, in a similar vein to a dog show really, I was still surprised to see young people brushing and even blow-drying their prize cattle, spraying them with glitter and taking a real pride in their animals.
This was a coming together of hundreds of local producers, as well as some farmers from around the country, even from Scotland. There was a festival atmosphere and again the social aspect was very evident. I am now going to pursue more such events for the archive, including ones in Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and possibly even further afield if the opportunity presents.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. October 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
The Rural Eye archive project was designed to give me the opportunity to engage with a very traditional documentary practice and to be able to get out and shoot as often as I could. With 2 shoots done at Leek Auctions, I realised that Market Drayton's own livestock auction was the same distance from home in the opposite direction, and so it seems a very logical next step to go there and move the project forward.
Arriving at Market Drayton Market, I had my usual walk around the whole site, something that I always do when possible to kind of feel the place out and get an idea of the function of the site. I then visited the office and spoke directly to Mark Jones, one of the auctioneers, just to explain what I am doing and why. Mark really understood the nature of the project and was happy for me to get on the camera out and do whatever I needed.
I have to say that I was immediately welcomed in a way that was surprising and heart warming. The farmers at this site were interested in what I was doing in a positive way, and while I was still often asked whether I was 'with animal rights or not', it was not a problem at all, in fact it just gave me that window of opportunity to talk to people and explain my motivations.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The English Winter Fair 2012, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire. 18th November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Simon Wragg, press officer for The English Winter Fair, supplied me with a press pass for this event and I am very grateful to him for that.
This was a huge event including the tasting of cooked food, a carcass hang, all manner of cattle and a huge show ring where animals were presented at their best for prizes. I had never been to such an event before and it was great to see many familiar faces there, people I have met at Leek and Market Drayton livestock auctions on previous shoots. While I was aware of the 'showing' of cattle, in a similar vein to a dog show really, I was still surprised to see young people brushing and even blow-drying their prize cattle, spraying them with glitter and taking a real pride in their animals.
This was a coming together of hundreds of local producers, as well as some farmers from around the country, even from Scotland. There was a festival atmosphere and again the social aspect was very evident. I am now going to pursue more such events for the archive, including ones in Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and possibly even further afield if the opportunity presents.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Leek Livestock Auction, Leek, Staffordshire. October 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
The first trip out and the beginning of what became 'The Rural Eye' archive project. I wanted to engage with a traditional documentary practice, something far from my usual studio and commercial photography work that would get me out in the countryside and meeting a whole section of society that I knew little about. I feel that there is a strong disconnect between food production and public perception, and my desire was to show farming life in an entirely positive manner.
There was in truth a lot of understandable suspicion directed towards me, as the farming community has been targeted in the past by animal rights groups, but talking to people about my work and aims has led to acceptance and a lot of help along the way. Perhaps I am an activist, but an activist for the promotion of agriculture, seeking to show their world to others and build an appreciation for their toil and their own desire to rear healthy cattle in a safe and compassionate manner.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Dairy Cottage Farm, Apedale, Staffordshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Dairy Cottage, despite the name, is a large beef farm which also produces feed (silage and haylage) for their own cattle and for sale to other local farms. With a mixture of modern and very old building as well as some antique farm machinery, this was a wonderful place to spend a day and the family really made me feel welcome and were happy to take part in The Rural Eye project.
The weather was very poor on this day and all the cattle were of course in for the winter, but I will be returning in the next season to photograph again and catch the farm under different conditions.
Many thanks to Tracey, Royston and Tom Pepper.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Park Hill Farm, Hales, Shropshire. November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Pat Pimlott was kind enough to allow me to visit and photograph on their farm near Loggerheads. Park Hill produce 'happy meat', beef and pork which they take to sell at markets in and around Staffordshire under their own brand. With award winning sausages and an approach that prioritises animal welfare, they produce great tasting meat with a concentration on the ecology and welfare of their historic farm. Pat also welcomes many schools by arrangement, giving young people an insight into farming life and the reality of where meat comes from.
I spent a few hours wandering their land, investigating the hundred year old barn, the jittery young cattle, the curious pigs and the landscape itself. I was particularly interested in the old which has been used since around 1900 and today houses the adult cattle through the worst of our winter weather. It was a milking shed when Pat's father ran it after the war, and I was fascinated with the details left behind from that era. I do plan to return to Park Hill Farm in the early Spring, hopefully to catch them working in the fields with the animals and also to get some more detail shots in the old barn, but with a tripod this time so that I can do it justice. A wonderful day, and my thanks go to Pat for allowing me to be there and spending so much time talking me through their current practices and past histories.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Farmstock or Cockstock, a weekend camping and enjoying farm life (private event and location), Cheshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Boys only, surviving at camp in the depths of winter. Actually a wonderful weekend with great people, driving tractors, getting stuck, building fires, shootings guns and going to the toilet in the great outdoors. An annual farm based experience weekend for a select group of guys.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Market Drayton Livestock Auction, Shropshire. January 2013.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Another engaging trip to Market Drayton, albeit on a very cold day. I took a large number of prints from the other visits up with me and gave them to Bob Oakes and the staff as a thank you for their help. It was nice to see him take them around and show them to people who were featured and I will need to ask him to put some names to those faces in a future visit.
I was planning to leave the cattle out for the most part, and so I concentrated on the people and again with a mixture of formalised portraits and reportage. There is something very beautiful about the background interiors at this site, particularly in black and white, the tonal values seem to all compliment the people and their own clothing too. I did however visit the back of the building and photograph some of the animals as it was so cold that I wanted to get that across. I also photographed at the very back where I hadn't previously realised that there was an area for washing out trailers and cleaning everything off, presumably for disease control rather than pure aesthetics.
Each trip to Market Drayton Auctions leaves me inspired to keep going and gives me the belief that there are always more ways to show, to present and to make photographs, while all the time giving me such a rich subject matter in a welcoming environment.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
The English Winter Fair 2012, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford, Staffordshire. 18th November 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
Simon Wragg, press officer for The English Winter Fair, supplied me with a press pass for this event and I am very grateful to him for that.
This was a huge event including the tasting of cooked food, a carcass hang, all manner of cattle and a huge show ring where animals were presented at their best for prizes. I had never been to such an event before and it was great to see many familiar faces there, people I have met at Leek and Market Drayton livestock auctions on previous shoots. While I was aware of the 'showing' of cattle, in a similar vein to a dog show really, I was still surprised to see young people brushing and even blow-drying their prize cattle, spraying them with glitter and taking a real pride in their animals.
This was a coming together of hundreds of local producers, as well as some farmers from around the country, even from Scotland. There was a festival atmosphere and again the social aspect was very evident. I am now going to pursue more such events for the archive, including ones in Shropshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and possibly even further afield if the opportunity presents.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...
Leek Livestock Auction, Leek, Staffordshire. October 2012.
Photograph by Lee William Hughes © The Rural Eye.
My second shoot for The Rural Eye archive project, and the staff and customers at Leek were really getting used to my presence and the idea that I am 'on their side' so to speak.
I had a cuppa and a long chat with Bruce Daniel, one of the senior auctioneers about the work. Bruce told me about how Leek is the last livestock market in all of Staffordshire, as my research had suggested. In fact there used by many, one every 12 miles at least, ensuring that no farmer had to walk his cattle more than 6 miles to market. There was a livestock auction in my own town of Newcastle-under-Lyme until 1994, but in the last few decades they have closed with farmers now having to drive their cattle to Leek or other auctions over the county borders.
Today I found myself really engaged with the animals, especially the sheep who are fascinated by the camera pointing at them. I do find something rather surreal about the sheep, of course their situation of being sold for food or breeding is something they are unaware of, but they always carry a worried look that as a human I can't help but translate anthropomorphically. As an ardent meat eater, I feel that I am gaining an understanding of the industry that feeds me, and I am not seeing anything negative at all, just people doing their best to raise their herds and flocks, to try and make a living in a hard and tough industry and economic climate.
To purchase prints, please click the link below and then select 'The Rural Eye Archive' folder...