Beech Tree Forest, Pyrenees, Study 1

About Jonathan Chritchley

The master of winds, waves, and woods Jonathan Chritchley is a detail-obsessed perfectionist of black-and-white photography. Sections and details of his work allow us to delve into landscapes of the soul and are both relaxing and… Read more

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The master of winds, waves, and woods



Jonathan Chritchley is a detail-obsessed perfectionist of black-and-white photography. Sections and details of his work allow us to delve into landscapes of the soul and are both relaxing and contemplative.



Natural beauty does not mean perfection: to him it means uniqueness. And accordingly his photographs look like visions of the unknown and new.



The atmosphere of his landscapes is not loud or spectacular but rather teases out a picturesque silence while playing with the power of nature, which he encounters in clearings in the forest, in the middle of the sea, or the panorama of a seascape.



He explores the scene with his camera like a hiker and captures forces of nature – a stormy collection of clouds and treetops bent by the winds, or the tautly pulled and suddenly billowing sails – in impressive images. We can truly inhale the landscape in Chritchley’s works – sense the wind, the cold, the distance, the resistance – because he has confronted them confidently and persistently with his camera.



Chritchley learned to sail as a boy on the south coast of England. He still preserves his excitement for the sport as well as sailing’s creativity and his inherent love of discovery, and he lives these actively in his photos. He abstractly choreographs the play of the wind in the sails. Billowing, cleverly cropped, sometimes full-bodied like a sculpture and momentarily rising to formidable heights, they can then in a split second give way in a windless sky. This creates an exciting scenario and offers aesthetic moments that fascinate more than just passionate sailors. He does not necessarily see himself as the “master of images” but rather as a curious observer of the canvas’s unpredictable moods.


As a globetrotter, Chritchley has been a guest not only on all continents but also on the pages of many magazines and in many galleries. His singular sailing portraits are known and loved internationally. The landscapes and sailing scenes specially selected for LUMAS attest to the photographer’s creative diversity, above all in the realm of abstraction.

VITA

	Born in Wimbledon, London, UK
1998	Moves to Biarritz, France
2006	Sets up his own company
Since 2007	Organizes photo workshops through his company Ocean Capture
	Lives and works in Biarritz, France