Blenheim Oaks Exhibition by Ian Fraser

Ian Fraser talks about his photographic craft:

“My speciality is a technique which gives the image a flat perspective like an architectural drawing but with photographic realism. I use the same criteria an artist would use if he sat down in front of the building with an easel and could see the image he wanted in his head. I remove the clutter, but I don’t put anything in that isn’t there.

These oak trees could be anything up to 800 years old, survivors from a bygone age. They will have witnessed centuries of history and incredible change and are now mostly in the autumn of their life span, yet they are still thrusting out new leaves every year although their trunks have been virtually hollowed out.

I was attracted to these trees not only because of their great age and history but also visually. Their trunks have fantastic texture and form, the longer you look at them you start to see all sorts of faces and figures in the bark.

All of the oak trees in this series are in the grounds of Blenheim Palace and each tree is numbered with a metal tag.  I thought it would be really interesting if people were able to find the trees to see them at different times of year, in different light and to see how they change over time as these prints are a record of how the trees look now.”

To make it easy to find the trees, the certificate on the back of the frame has a map showing specifically the location of that tree as well as the location of all the other trees in the series. It also has the GPS co-ordinates of all the trees so they can be found with a hand held GPS device or looked up on Google Earth.

All the prints are on beautiful 310gsm watercolour paper and printed with archival inks for longevity. The frames are made of oak and glazed with Conservation Clear glass that absorbs 99% of UV light and the certificate of authenticity is attached to the back. They are all signed by Ian and marked with their number in the edition.

We are open Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, 11.00am -5.00pm and at other times by appointment.  We look forward to welcoming you soon.

Chris, Scrumpie-pup and the team