I can’t tell you a great deal about this picture although I took it, other than what is obvious from looking at it (and I do have the luxury of seeing it at around ten times the size of the version above and of being able to look at the contact sheet.)
The field of maize is covered with frost, and from the other frames on the sheet I can guess that it was taken somewhere in Old Windsor (it used just to be called Windsor until some King or other decided to build a new castle a couple of miles down the road in 1080.) Again from the contact sheet and negative number, I can guess it was taken in late 1977 or possibly early 1978.
I came across it while looking through my old files and although usually I remember the details about pictures that I’ve taken – or at least some of them – this one was a blank, although as soon as I saw it I responded strongly, but it was like seeing someone else’s work rather than my own.
I’ve often said “I’m not really a landscape photographer” but I think this one isn’t bad. It was taken on 35mm Kodak Tri-X and has – for a ISO 400 film – remarkably fine and sharp grain on the scan I’ve made.
Around that time I had a small commission from an arts magazine to provide some photographs to go with some poems, at least one of which was about winter. This wasn’t one of the pictures I used, but might possibly have been shot with that in mind.
