23 November 2020
We have added a new range of photo print products to the Scene & Word store. These differ technically from the existing range of fine prints in being printed on 200 GSM Universal Photo Paper rather than Giclée printed on archival-quality cotton paper. They are based on photographs of major pieces of art that no longer exist, having been destroyed by, or on behalf of, their owners. In a sense they are brought back to half-life through the medium of creative photography.
We worked with an exciting talent, the young South African photographer Leah Rolando (www.leahrolando.com), on these new prints. The first, titled Crown of Thorns, is based on the four large dalle de verre windows created by Jonah in the mid-1960s for the dome of the newly built Catholic Church of the English Martyrs at Hillmorton, in Rugby, Warwickshire. For safety reasons in 2012 the windows were removed and very badly stored, which caused their complete destruction. The print, using original photographs taken by Stephen Brayne in situ in 2009 when the windows were still intact, shows all four windows, taking advantage of their distinctive triangular appearance to create a stunning Christmas tree effect, to which the thumbnail image below barely does justice.
The second product is a range of five prints, available separately, based on the same image, a close-up extended detail of the slate and Carrara marble Hedd Dros Wynedd / Peace Across Gwynedd wall sculpture Jonah created in 1972 for the North Wales Police HQ in Colwyn Bay, sadly lost in 2002 when builders, without consulting anyone, ripped the vast sculpture out and threw the parts away during a building refurbishment. Leah Rolando developed a series of photographic treatments from an original photograph taken by Robert Greetham when the sculpture was still intact, using subtle colour and dynamic editing to evoke the experience of viewing the sculpture from close up.
