IAMCIDER Exhibition 2010
"IAMCIDER" is an ongoing personal project and something I feel very passionate about. Living in Somerset, the heart of true cider country, real cider is something I am surrounded by and fascinated with. If I may borrow his words from the introduction to a fabulous book 'Cider - The Forgotten Miracle' James Crowden sums it up in a better way than I ever can... Somerset Cider is without doubt some of the finest in the world. Here on the small farms that surround the Somerset Levels and Moors, the art of cidermaking has the status of an ancient religion, where superstition and belief are inextricably linked with the landscape of myth and legend, as if the fermentation was regarded with veneration, like some kind of miracle, which in a sense it is. As if in the dark of the cider house itself, they were in touch with invisible forces, only half tamed, another world dimly perceived, as if there were some kind of process at work beneath the skin, not just of the farmer, but the apple itself....Good cider farms are worshipped for many miles... (ISBN 0 953710300 www.james-crowden.co.uk) The Cider world has so much to capture and offers a photographer a perpetual challenge, the seasonality and idiosyncrasies of the landscape, the rare and colourful characters involved, the origins of an area, a cider farm, a person, an apple....Like any industry it has a peculiar mix of tradition and commerce, both of which have their value and place, and I see my role as a photographer is to record this, these photos are a visual response to the realm specific to cidermaking and apples. I was first asked to photograph cider as a subject when i when i was commissioned to document the Apple Villages project in 2004 by Kate Lynch and James Crowden. I remember kneeling in the orchard behind the school in Kingsbury Episcopi and being astonished by the quality of the light, the amazing smell of cider apples, the age of the place and the ways the kids were reacting to it all, it was marvellous..I was really excited, that day really inspired me. It was like a new world opened up to me and I fell in love it, truly. I didn’t completely understand why at the time but I few years later I heard Michael Brown (Brown & Forrest) talking about provenance at Apple Day at Burrow Hill and it all became much clearer. I have hundreds of photos from this series, but only a fraction online, please ask if you want to see more or would prefer to see something more specific. The exhibition is going on tour this year and I am keen to spread the word! I will post more venues as they are confirmed. Special limited edition prints are available, please ask! EXHIBITION DATES: Saturday 3 July - Monday 30 August The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre, Coal Orchard, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 1JL. Box Office (01823) 283244 PERMANENT DISPLAY- The Cider Museum, 21 Ryelands St, Hereford HR4 0LW.