Gary Bainbridge, A Different Light on the Fens 2025

Artist Statement

I have always been interested in alternative photographic techniques, and for this project: A Different Light on the Fens,  I have used infrared photography to bring out the particular character of this part of East Anglia.

This flat land, which covers parts of Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, is in my blood as my ancestors came from this area, living in King’s Lynn, a port and market town in West Norfolk, since the eighteenth century and probably before that as inhabitants of the Fens. I have used infrared photography because it shows us what we cannot normally see; the feelings the land provokes, particularly emphasising the broad skies of this once marshy area.

Photography has always fascinated me since I was a boy in short trousers, developing and printing my own photographs even in colour.

When I retired,  I decided that it was an ideal opportunity to become a student again and obtain a degree that did not exist when I was eighteen, namely a bachelor’s degree in photography.

This exhibition is my final project for that degree, which has taken ten years of hard work studying at home.

I hope you enjoy my pictures.

Gary Bainbridge.

A Different Light on the Fens,

The Customs House in Kings Lynn from 17th to 24th May 2025.

Gary Bainbridge is a mature student studying for a BA in Photography at the Open College of the Arts. His final year project consists of infrared photographs of the Fenlands of Cambridge, Norfolk and Lincolnshire, is being exhibited at The Customs House in Kings Lynn from 17th to 24th May 2025.

Until the seventeenth century, the Fens were a land of marsh and bog. Village names like Marshland St. James and Pymoor give away the history of the area. As the marshes were drained and the land became agricultural, the indigenous people of the Fens were displaced. In these images, I have attempted to show the Fens as they are today, a rich agricultural area, a modern powerhouse and an area with a fascinating history.

By using infrared imagery, I have emphasised the wildness, the flatness and the wide open skies.

See the images at:

https://oca.padlet.org/gary513749/a-different-light-on-the-fens-2025-xqyjjzsz2qtzmgs8