Richard Learoyd’s photographs are marked by a dynamic fusion of historical process, timeless subject matter, and contemporary scale. His nearly life-size camera obscura portraits of figures within his studio are rich in detail, with a hyper-real quality that conveys an uncanny presence in person.
In 2013, Learoyd turned from one art historical genre to another when he began a series of landscape photographs. Committed to the historical process, Learoyd constructed a large camera obscura that he shuttled between locations in Eastern Europe, California, and the English countryside. While his studio portraits utilize a lens to create direct positive photographs, his lens-less on-site camera yields negatives up to 80 inches wide from which Learoyd makes large-scale gelatin silver contact prints, a technical and artistic feat.
The River Stour runs through Eastern England, north of London, and is a location that Learoyd photographed twice: once in Winter, as seen here, and again in Spring. Relating the images back to his earlier work, Learoyd comments, ‘I suppose in the same way that I’m interested in the extended portrait, the idea of photographing people over a number of years, I’ve sort of challenged myself to see whether I’m interested in the ways that places change seasonally.’
This is the first of Learoyd’s landscapes to appear at auction.
