River Songs #1

Thanks for taking time to read River Songs #1. You are among the privileged 20 who are here from the very beginning…

Elter Press is an art space where I can develop and share my writing and photography in a way that feels more considered. As they say, the internet is a million miles wide but just a millimetre deep, and it’s difficult to be seen or heard on platforms where creativity and value are munched by algorithms. I hope this can be a touch point for creative collaboration and an opportunity to share the work of other artists that inspire me too.

I have modest goals for 2023 - to print and exhibit my work in tactile, non-digital form, to write, and to build a small community as I develop my work. River Songs is a small part of that - a monthly update on what I’ve been shooting, writing and reading, and an ongoing conversation with people who also love writing and photography.

Like many, I found the lockdown years crushing at times, with spells of introspection, deep joy and loss. Despite the darkness, I was grateful for the space. One thing that could take root in that space was a love of analog photography. I fell into learning and walked with old cameras - practising processes I’d explored 20 years before, but left behind somehow. I remembered how it could feel to create without compromise, away from the heavy digital workflows of my filmmaking career. Elter Press is a way for me to lean into being an artist (something I’ve never quite been able to reconcile) - and I’m committed to not being a tortured one…

In these monthly emails i’ll share images from three years of walking and swimming in the river Sprint, explorations of abandoned boats on forgotten coastlines, time spent with friends in coppiced woodlands. My roots are here in Cumbria, and that’s primarily what fuels my creative work - Elter Press is a place to show it. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to sharing some work with you all in February.

Take care. Spring is coming.

Dom

Things I’m enjoying this month ~ A Path of Shadows - John Porter. A book of poems and essays written over a 50yr period, poignant and heartfelt. Particularly moving as John is a friend and I know some of the people in the book.

A Small Voice - Conversations with Photographers. A podcast following the careers of some of the greats, and those becoming established in the industry. My favourite recent episode was No.187 with US photographer Brian Schutmaat.