Tim Walker is a fashion photographer, who mostly works for British and Italian Vogue; from his photographs it’s clear to see that he is all round British photographer. Walker was born in 1970 in Guildford and went to do a degree in Photography at Exeter Art College. He’s work shows an obvious love of the country side and British landscapes. He went to New York to be come Richard Avedon assistant. And In 1990s he went to do work experience at Vogue and started to look Cecil Beaton’s negatives which led a deep understand of Vogue s history and heritage. Not only did he look at Beaton’s work but also Norman Parkinson photographs. Walkers work also shares with them a true British photographer.
Walkers photographs when I first looked at them made me think of the books by C.S Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia but most of the Lion the Watch and the Wardrobe, this book is one of my all times favourite books but why I think it stands out even more to me and why it makes me think if Walker work is that it brings back my childhood. This book has all the elements (English countryside, adventure and hot summers) to what Walker’s photographs are made from and what they are all about. The other writer I feel that also makes me think of walker is E.H.Nasbitt who wrote the book the Railways Children in 1906, this I have not read but have seen on TV and feel that this also have the key elements to Walkers photographs. Also being set in the country side and the children having an adventure of which the have to help their father. Walker’s photographs have a very child like feel to them but somehow just like the Lion the Watch and the Wardrobe you never grow board of reading or looking at them.
Looking much more at his photographs they show I clear link to British Neo Romantic style. This was a movement in the 1930’s and 1940’fixed beyond surrealism which didn’t just happen in England, artist may of called themselves ‘English’ but only as a mark of pride. There were other no English artist such as Welsh and Scottish artist however it was a small group of London born British Artist who really stood out. The word ‘English’ seem to cover all nationality of the movement. I feel that this movement was taken out of British history and culture. However Neo-Romance dominated over more than ten years of British art round the 1940’s. The British artist of the 1930’s really looked back at of their Romantic predecessors and really drew on their ideas and the techniques they used. At this time the Second World War has just broke out.
Neo-Romance covered many different area of art in Britain, such as painting, illustration, literature, and theatre. One of the main areas in which it thrived was film making, the two main artists were Michael Power and Emeric Pressburger their films which were glowing, Gothic films were ignored. However Power was Hungarian/British and Pressburger was British.But after a shifted in 1970 ant 1980 which changed critical context. The other area of which artist focused was on personal, poetic vision of the landscape.
Ref
Spirit Of Place, Nine Neo Romantic Artists and Their Times by M Yorke
Beaton In Vogue by J Ross
Beaton’s Portraits by R Strong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-romanticism
http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=192
http://www.answers.com/topic/neo-romanticism
