It was only by chance I found Emil Otto Hoppe's
Picturesque Great Britain - the Architecture and the Landscape, published in 1926. My photographs fail to do justice to his lovely, sepia-tones views, infused with a mellow
chiaroscuro. Above is
Sutton Place in Surrey.
Born 14/04/1878 in Munich, the son of a rich banker, E O Hoppe abandoned his banking career in 1907 in London, and opened his portrait studio there. Above is a stream in Ashburnham in Devonshire.
His timing was fortunate, coming as it when much of "Green England" still existed. Above, at Minehead in Somerset, the timelessness is palpable.
Soon after initiating his career, Emil Otto, according to Wikipedia, "was the undisputed leader of pictorial portraiture in Europe." I'm grateful he turned his attention also to the wider, quieter, more stable world. Above,
"The Needles, Isle of Wight," the island where my paternal ancestors lived for something like 500 years, as far as I know.
"In the Wye Valley, Wales," above, shows a world that still exists here and there, perhaps. But perhaps, too, this world is becoming a memory. Have we gained more than we've lost in our pursuit of an apparently better life?
This, above, is
"Ben More, Scotland," a slow-scape where human intervention hasn't overwhelmed its stage.
Above, as if from a fairy tale,
"Stoneleigh Abbey, near Leamington, Warwickshire." Will it ever appear so eternal again, what with the propensity we now have to change anything we like in whatever way we will?
It being Easter, this image, in particular, strikes a resonance with me.
"The Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland" is haunting and timeless
. What would it have been for the cross, or any religious symbol, to play a significant role in our daily life? We do not know any more, and we don't seem to care, that we do not know.
The photographer Hoppe had an impact that outdid that of almost all others. "Rarely in the history of the medium has a photographer been so famous in his own lifetime among the general public." ( Wikipedia, again. ) Above, as if hundreds of years' ago, "
Evesham Church, Worcestershire."
This is the fireplace I'd like to have, these the chairs I'd like to sit on ( at
"Lambay Castle, Ireland." )
There's no television, there's no phone. There's no recorded music. But a self-sustaining life was here...
...as it was here, in these two spaces (
"Glondalkin, Ireland" and
"Carrick-on-Suir, Ireland" ), now vanished. If you'd like to read more about this artist, see
www.eohoppe.com
I'm fully aware life's moved on, but I'm not altogether sure it's moved on in the right direction.
I care; like you Faisal. My daughter was born on the Isle of Wight. I lived there for 4 years, and went to church in a tin hut in Shanklin. I try to keep looking beyond the surface of things.
ReplyDeletePaul, the more we look beyond the surface of things, the more we will see Heaven.
DeleteI'm entirely aware the past is not going to return, but I relate to it.
That's not to say I don't find my being here now a predicament I cannot have chosen, but one which, chosen as it has been for me by the Almighty, one I'm willing to embrace. The metaphysical urgency I feel, reading of Christ's last days, is in way, real for me now, and every day. I mean, reality is unavoidable!
Thankyou for your IoW comment. I've not been there yet, and hope to one day.
Lovely post!
ReplyDeleteThankyou, Matthew! You'd, of course, know a thing or two about taking photos. Good photos seem to be able to strike a chord, as these have with me. I'd like to have something of Hoppe's talent!
DeleteWhat a magnificent book - you found a beauty there. Your photos are fine, Faisal, and give the right impression of a world almost lost to us. So peaceful... I agree with you about that fireplace! How great would it be to be sitting there in winter. Though to be honest, I think I've become an IT wimp and would miss my computer after a short time. What a confession!
ReplyDeleteI think you've got something there, Carol: none of us could live without our means of communicating, the entire body of communicating having twisted, morphed into another reality altogether!
DeleteI wouldn't have met lovely people like you, if I was still writing letters, which I remember doing, at length, some time in my past, where waiting at the letter-box was full of anticipation.
We can, it would seem, have the fireplace AND the online link!
Oh how I would love to see these drawings in person. They are lovely! Have we gained more than we have lost? Oh I fear not! We have become so irresponsible in what we erase of nature, in the name of progress. What will our children's children, or beyond think when they view such pieces of art? Will they view them only as works of imagination? If they understand these wonderful places existed, who will they blame for their demise? Have a beautiful and blessed Easter. Bonnie
ReplyDeleteBonnie, I like things to go a little slow, but to be honest, there was only one window of time today when they were.
DeleteWe didn't, I feel, even have to worry about the state of the world, or, if we did, only peripherally, all those years ago, in another age, when we were young.
Sometimes, I feel, humankind doesn't even realise what it's got, in its race to improve. I imagine I'm benefiting from the improvements, but sometimes I just feel snared in them.
You, too, Bonnie, have a lovely Easter!
Enjoyable pictorial look back at places I've never been, but a common theme any place in time.
ReplyDelete"Have we gained more than we've lost in our pursuit of an apparently better life?" I think so in the short-term, though with more people in a given place, there should be more people who care, mitigating or even causing an increase in quality, just different. At least I like to think so!!
I hope you're right, David. No-one knows how those in the future will regard the world around them, I guess...maybe there really will be an unprecedented shift in how we perceive our place and responsibilities. I certainly don't feel hopeless about this issue!
ReplyDeletefine photos, i'd like to spend some time with that book!
ReplyDeleteHi Velma. They're really atmospheric photos, not just because they're aged. Looking through this book, I felt not only transported back in time and 'transported' via an artist's vision, but I felt that I was taken back to that way of reading we used to have, when reading and books were one of the few means people had to envision other ways of being.
Deletethey are otherworldly photos. Something of the magic carpet about them.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Diana. It is an otherworldly book.
ReplyDeletesuperb photography, i love the sepia look, very lovely to look at. I don't know that life has moved in the wrong direction totally. I know what you mean Faisal, but I try to maintain hope by noticing the good things that still happen, amidst the horrors.
ReplyDeleteVictorian photos.....wonderfully evocative
ReplyDeleteWhat smashing photos. Though were that fireplace up for grabs, Faisal, I fear I would barge you out of the way. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteSince you're nearer to the fireplace, Dave, perhaps you have a greater claim...but if I caught you napping in front of it, I could just roll you into the embers. That ought to fix you!
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