Tower and Town, March 2024 (view the full edition)The Way I see itI have lived in Devizes for the past 30 years or so. The 'day job' is in engineering. Photography is the complete opposite - your imagination can run wild. If it works, great; if it doesn't, then no worries - delete that image and think again. I first got into photography in the early 90s, shooting on transparency and negative film, both in colour and black and white. I did a lot of walking then, still do, and photography was the obvious way of capturing light, landscapes and interesting bits of detail in those landscapes, either natural or man-made. I soon discovered the Marlborough Downs and the Vale of Pewsey - brilliant, and right on the doorstep. Steeped in history that even for this country goes back so far - Avebury and Silbury Hill, 4,500 or so years old - wandering these places really makes you think. I love these ancient sites and landscapes, but at the same time I'm really interested in the patterns that modern farming leaves in the landscape, ploughed fields, tramlines, bales, mowed fields, swathes of straw and such like.  After a number of evening courses, I soon realised that really the only way to learn was to get out there and learn from your mistakes. Back then you had to wait for a few days to see the results, and try and work out why some things worked and others didn't. After a while I started selling a few images. I booked stalls at fairs and shows, and gradually was selling a sizeable number of photographs, and getting work from various local companies, councils, magazines and charities, but the best bit was the people I met.  Fast forward to July 2020 and lockdown. I found I had a little more spare time, time to just stop and look, time to explore places locally that I had not been to for years. I kept saying to myself, 'that might make a shot', so I dug out the Nikon and a couple of basic lenses, and started looking again. I think you can only get the best out of place if you keep going back to it, time and time again, all seasons, different times and different lights. To do this, it really has to be local, and the Marlborough Downs and Vale of Pewsey offer so much. I have no interest in travelling miles to find a shot - everything I take is no more than 10 miles or so from home. David Pegden |