Tumulus

While many photographers have been credited with pushing the boundaries of creativity, Dorset photographer John Miles has long been known as one who went beyond them. A new book of his photographs, Tumulus, has recently been published. Katherine Locke has taken a journey through the pages.

John Miles has compiled a new collection of photographs. Published by invisible inc and produced to an exceptionally high standard, it is filled with classic John Miles images, as well as a few surprises. The book, entitled Tumulus, is the name of one of John’s favourite photographs and Middle English for a burial mound or a barrow. It is this sense of unearthing, of excavation, in John’s photography, that makes it such an appropriate title for the book.
For those of you unfamiliar with John Miles’ work, he specialises in capturing the unexpected. He has described his approach as ‘giving chance a chance’. Although some of his images are set up, or ‘constructed’, there are some that could be described as a lucky accident. He, however, would refute that, ‘it is more than that’, he says, ‘it is about capturing the experience where one benefits from being unprepared’.
He started life as a painter and attended Wimbledon School of Art in the 50s. An exciting time, when the influence of figurative painters such as Stanley Spencer gave way to the abstract and new influences emerging from America, such as Josef Albers. Many painters at the time, particularly students, rushed to explore the abstract without really knowing why. John, finding himself ‘swimming in circles’ was given a camera by his tutor Gerald Hawson. He was told to ‘press a button and get on with it, any technical problems were dismissed with ‘you will understand when you are ready’.
Tumulus is the result of that journey. It contains 112 pages with fifty black and white images, including John’s personal favourites. ‘I have been involved with photography for forty years and would be happy to be remembered for three particular photographs: Eggs, Tumulus and Boys.’ he says. The book also contains a short story written by John and a fascinating interview with fellow photographer Steve Pyke.
The Window, the short story written by John, is about a boy who watches from his suburban window as World War Two air raids destroy his world. The story echoes themes apparent in John’s visual work. The balance between what is inside and what is outside. As he explains to Steve Pyke, when describing his artistic voyage, it is about ‘the schizophrenia of attempting to balance what’s out there, with what’s in here’. The boy understands that the function of the window is to be simultaneously inside and outside. The window frame could be the photographer’s lens as the boy observes his unravelling world. It is a beautifully written story that perfectly captures childhood innocence coupled with a clarity of vision about events that often eludes adults.
The interview with Steve Pyke is particularly illuminating, not only about John’s particular influences, but photography in general. Steve Pyke is increasingly recognised as a leading photographer of our time. His work is driven by a taxonomic urge – a profound fascination with the collection and classification of images. His work is sparse and minimalist. Best known for his portraits, very close up and tightly shot, he collects images of groups of people. His work was recently featured in the film Closer, in which Julia Roberts plays a portrait photographer.
John Miles and Steve Pyke share an exploratory view of the role of photography. Pyke says ‘the contents of a photograph are not fact, nor reality, nor truth. They are a means that we have created to extend our way of seeing, in our search for ‘truth’.’
John echoes this by his willingness to play with our notions of ‘truth’. He speaks of illusion and its role in photography. ‘Photography is ideally placed to deal with ‘deception’. As it is we seem to go through life led by the opinions of pre-formed images of others. Both of which we absorb while the truth lies elsewhere, away from it all, somewhere as yet undiscovered.’ Both photographers are interested in notions of truth, but it could be argued that they approach the subject from opposite sides.
John’s enthusiasm to play with the possibility of trickery in photography often results in a darkness within his images. Seeing them together in the book reinforces the sense of uneasiness that much of his work induces in the viewer. Some of his images are decidedly uncomfortable, Childscale and Lesson are two that come to mind. These are images of threat and explorations of death that are edgy and difficult. He describes Childscale having a combination which ‘lends a dark sense of uncertainty to the outcome’.
John Miles’ exploration of the dark is unflinching, but to make sense of it, we can quote him, quoting William Blake, when he says ‘Beauty is but the beginning of terror’.
Tumulus is available from The Bookshop, South St Bridport, where John Miles will be signing copies from 6 - 8pm on Friday December 2nd. Also available from 3NQ;Booklore, Hound St., Sherborne and through invisible inc on 07908 425 224.