THE ACCIDENTAL PHOTOGRAPHER
Wendy Reed
The plan was to become a lawyer. The reality was years of being bedridden or in a wheelchair. Developing severe M.E. in my 20s had changed everything. It felt right to try something different and I moved with my family from a large English town to rural Wales. Over the years, my health improved and I had the energy to rediscover, perhaps somehow reinvent, my world. The beauty of Wales was captivating. When I received a camera as a birthday gift, I began photographing the local landscape, beginning with my garden and venturing further afield as my health improved. Photography unlocked the world for me. I had finally found something I could do again, something exciting that began to restore my confidence. What is landscape photography? Now, I can walk for several miles, but scaling the peaks of Eryri, near where I live, remains unattainable. Carrying heavy camera gear is a challenge. So, my focus is on capturing the landscapes I can reach, exploring the beautiful, the intriguing, the evocative.
In a book I loved as a child, there is a scene where a character escapes into a painting. That scene is always with me. That feeling is what I aim for in my photos: an invitation to step into a magical world, whether it be following a winding path through the forest, venturing through a rustic gate, or peering into a cottage tantalisingly obscured by trees. Finding the magic in my surroundings is the inspiration that shapes my photography and my editing style. My illness taught me to appreciate life. Photography taught me how to see the world around me. Not the life I planned, but the one I believe I am meant to live.
This article first appeared in PRISMA, Issue 21.