For a few years now I’ve been working on a project involving Stonehenge during it’s use over the Summer and Winter Solstices as an active religious/spiritual site. I realised I haven’t done a proper write up of any of these instances outside of a more critical use of the work in a side by side comparison of the imagery I am producing against the way the event is presented in the media.
Since the first time I attended the Summer Solstice the project has been taking shape, and the scope has widened to include a few other locations around the UK, as the concept became more encompassing of richer themes than just a single location at some limited times.
Unlike the Summer Solstice, the Winter Solstice is not celebrated overnight, but begins early in the morning, with gates opening around 7am.
Compared to previous years I changed up my choice of gear quite drastically, taking no telephoto option, just a wide and a mid angle; 24mm and 50mm. This serves to guide my approach to work more closely to the scenes I am photographing, even though that is already where I direct my effort. Forcing my own hand means creative problem solving, and avoiding repeating work I have made in the past.
I did a lot of the work with the 24mm which is a real rarity for me, but made possible because of my self imposed gear restrictions. I think the next time I visit for the Summer Solstice I will change my approach again, using an automatic camera for fast reactions, and a medium format camera for portraiture. I really want to take advantage of the versatility and freedom possible in this usually restricted environment, and make the most of it to create something special.
After Stonehenge I travelled a short distance to Avebury, which also features a stone circle, and often sees something of an “after-party” of others who decide to bring their energy from Stonehenge to a site which doesn’t enforce opening hours. It is always peaceful, and a lovely area to spend the afternoon, while offering good potential to contribute to my project.
A friend, Bas, was visiting from the Netherlands, and joined me documenting the Solstice. He was working with film which I helped him with, and developed for him which meant I saw his photographs before I saw my own. This somewhat contaminated my opinion of my own work, as I was seeing a brand new perspective on the space, very much unlike the work I have produced over the past few years.
However, I can frame this positively, as it has given me some ideas and a possible direction for workflow to experiment with the next time I work on this project. On top of switching up my gear again, I can start to try and see differently, and direct my attention towards those new aspects, avoiding retreading familiar ground.
Street Dances 
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