Photographing the Wells Light Refinery Print
I spent a winter’s day stood in front of the west front at Wells Cathedral and photographed one of the most remarkable light displays that I’ve ever witnessed.
My camera recorded the changes in colour temperature from morning until evening.
The end of the day saw the vast west front turned into a huge gnomon – the sun-line receding upwards – the colours being drawn out of the stone as it sank into the west.
My original intent was to create a time-lapse of sorts – but that didn’t seem to do my experience justice.
My feeling at the end of the day after standing and watching for seven hours was of time standing still in a wonderful chromatic arc of light.
I felt imbibed by it. It was underpinned by a sense of calm and wonderment.
How could I pass on the impact of my experience?
Only a single image would do – one that would show the full scope of time and light all at once. An image that might at once show an abstract movement of coloured light and also its detailed movement across one of the most remarkable Gothic facades in Europe.