James Ravilious was one England's greatest photographers, yet he and his work remains largely unknown. Coming late to photography in life, he devoted his last 17 years to documenting a small community in north Devon, contributing over 80,ooo photos to a project that later became known as the Beaford Archive. The collection, one of the most extensive in the country, revealed a way of life that many, myself included, thought had long disappeared.
Back in print as a paperback, due largely to a recent and compelling BBC documentary, An English Eye: The Photographs of James Ravilious, promises to be a real treat, and I've got it on my list. Ravilious was no ordinary documentary photographer, he elevated his work to an art-form, that, to my mind, parallels Cartier-Bresson.
Amazon US: An English Eye: The Photographs of James Ravilious
Amazon UK: An English Eye: The Photographs of James Ravilious
Amazon UK: An English Eye: The Photographs of James Ravilious
