To Walk This Land (2016-2020)
“It is some years since I have walked on the beloved hills, but I remember every stone and rock — and stick.”
Beatrix Potter in her garden with her dog, Kep. Taken by Charles G.Y. King, 1913. Public Domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
A pilgrimage is a magical way to begin a series of work. I began this one by traveling to England’s Lake District, to the area that inspired Beatrix Potter. She is best known for her children’s books, Peter Rabbit, et al., but I was inspired by what happened after Peter Rabbit. Following the death of her fiancé in 1905, Beatrix bought a small farm in a very small village, intuitively knowing she needed to change the shape of her life. She continued writing her children’s books, but gradually became a respected farmer and conservationist, leaving over 4,000 acres of working farms to the National Trust when she died in 1943.
There’s a lot more to the story, but I admired her strength and sensitivity and wanted to meet the land that gave form and meaning to her new life.
I did this by walking and photographing. I was attracted to the paths around Beatrix’s Near Sawrey home that were frequent and favorite walks for her. My attention was, as usual, drawn to intimate landscapes rather than grand vistas, much as Beatrix also preferred. I didn’t know what to hope for in walking her land so focused on making my own connection to it. And in doing this I gradually and occasionally glimpsed a timeless spirit between Beatrix’s walking the land and my own walking it. It might be the sensation of mist, or finding a hidden, secret-feeling path between trees, or having the sun break through a cloudy day. It was right there in her experience and again in mine. It was magical, and it connected me to her strong feeling for this land.
To Walk This Land — On way to Esthwaite Water
To Walk This Land — Outside of Near Sawrey, towards Esthwaite Water
To Walk This Land — Heading up to Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — Near Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — On Way to Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — At Esthwaite Water
To Walk This Land — At Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — Somewhere above Hilltop Farm
To Walk This Land — On way to Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — Heading towards Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — At Esthwaite Water
To Walk This Land — Heading back to Near Sawrey
To Walk This Land — Heading towards Far Sawrey
To Walk This Land — On way to Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — On way to Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — Behind Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — Behind Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — On way to Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — On nature trail near Esthwaite Water
To Walk This Land — At Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — At Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — Behind Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — Heading up to Moss Eccles Tarn
To Walk This Land — At Hilltop Farm
To Walk This Land — Above Moss Eccles Tarn