Late photographer's images will be exhibited at Ludlow gallery
The work of a photography teacher in south Shropshire is now on display, nearly 20 years after his death, after it was thought his work was lost forever.
Harry Fearn was a highly regarded practitioner and photography teacher and regarded by his peers as one of the best monochrome printers in the UK. His work is now on display at The Photospace 2 in Quality Square, Ludlow.
When Harry died in 2002 from a heart attack, his negatives didn't survive and his prints were dispersed. Now, some of his work has been found and is displayed at the gallery in Ludlow.
Peter Jones, gallery owner, said: "We are delighted that some of them were brought to our attention and we can exhibit them at the same time as opening our darkroom.
"We are grateful to Harry Fearn's family and friends for their support in arranging this exhibition."
Harry’s interest in photography developed seriously in 1978 but became a passion a few years later when he progressed from colour to black and white. But he found books on darkroom processes “confusing”. His good friend, Gary Rowlands, suggested a weekend workshop run by Paul Hill at the Photographer’s Place in Derbyshire. This was Harry’s turning point. Workshop presenters Peter Goldfield and Mike Williams introduced him to the Zone System and this was “a revelation”.
Harry wrote: "One realises the significance of the phrase ‘Painting with Light’ – the camera and exposure meter being the palette and the darkroom work the canvas”.
Harry was born in in 1942. He ran his own engineering business but, following two heart attacks, he retired and moved to Porthmadog in North Wales to pursue his passion for photography. He was an associate member of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and a qualified adult education tutor. He wrote articles for photography magazines, ran workshops, lectured at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford, and held Zone System workshops on behalf of the RPS.
Photospace is now open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10.30am until 4pm and only two people at a time can enter the gallery due to Covid 19 restrictions.
