Merged

Having tried to postpone a photography group meet, there was one person who I couldn't get hold of so, mutts and I went up to White Down. Half an hour's wait, the weather cleared but the woman, predictably, didn't show. I headed off with the camera and the dogs, into the woods. 

I took some photos and played around with in camera blurring. The latter came out ok but, I've seen so many of late that they bore me. I then thought of Lady G. 

Lady G is now in her 90's and totally reclusive. In her day she was a well known photographer. Not long before I met her, she held a tea party for her few nearest and dearest and announced she was giving up photography.  She collected her cameras and other equipment, closed them in the dark room and turned the key. To my knowledge that door has never been opened since. Not only did she close her door but she refused to talk of photography from that day so, I never had the chance to get any insight from her.  Lady G's work, executed before the invention of home computers and photoshop, can only be described as genial and is now archived in the British Museum. 

She was probably amongst the first to merge two exposures together, using glass transparencies to form fine works of art. Each image was meticulously planned. I used to look at her photos for hours, each time finding something different in them.  Many were woodland scenes, haunting but extremely beautiful. I spent many hours trying to recreate digitally something that could come close to her visions but always failed and this is the first time I've attempted to merge to photos for many years. I don't possess the insight to see two photos merging the way they should. 

I took one of the blurred images and have overexposed a regular scene of the woodland.  I'm sure Lady G wouldn't approve but somehow this one felt almost right.