The Hidden Fens

Silent Hori­zons

The Fens are a place of immense skies, remote roads, dark fer­tile soils and iso­lat­ed build­ings that seem sus­pend­ed in time. Flat, open and qui­et­ly haunt­ing, this land­scape lends itself beau­ti­ful­ly to infra-red inter­pre­ta­tion, trans­form­ing famil­iar scenes into some­thing oth­er­world­ly and deeply expressive.

Over four days, we will explore this often-over­looked region, seek­ing out aban­doned farm­hous­es, weath­ered agri­cul­tur­al build­ings, lone trees, drainage chan­nels and end­less hori­zons beneath dra­mat­ic skies. In infra-red, the ordi­nary becomes extra­or­di­nary. Dark skies deep­en, foliage glows white, tex­tures become more pro­nounced and the stark sim­plic­i­ty of the Fen­land land­scape reveals a strik­ing visu­al char­ac­ter all of its own. 

Much of the Fens lies below sea lev­el and was once an inac­ces­si­ble wet­land before cen­turies of drainage trans­formed it into one of the UK’s most pro­duc­tive agri­cul­tur­al regions. The geom­e­try of the land­scape, its arti­fi­cial water­ways, iso­lat­ed struc­tures and sparse veg­e­ta­tion cre­ate an ide­al envi­ron­ment for strong graph­ic com­po­si­tions and min­i­mal­ist interpretation.

We will also spend time at Holme Fen, one of the few remain­ing undrained areas of the Fens and home to the low­est land point in Eng­land. Sil­ver birch wood­land, wet­land tex­tures and atmos­pher­ic fen scenery pro­vide a beau­ti­ful con­trast to the open agri­cul­tur­al land­scapes else­where on the workshop.

Get­ting the most from your infrared photography

Through­out the work­shop, Mark Lawrence will pro­vide guid­ance on both see­ing and com­pos­ing for infra-red pho­tog­ra­phy, help­ing you under­stand how light, foliage, tex­ture and atmos­phere inter­act with­in this fas­ci­nat­ing medi­um. The work­shop also includes an edit­ing and print­ing ses­sion, where you will process your infra-red files and pre­pare images for print. By the end of the work­shop, you will leave with at least two A3 prints from this remark­able and dis­tinc­tive landscape. 

Work­shop Highlights

Explore one of England’s most unique and under-pho­tographed landscapes

Learn how to see and com­pose specif­i­cal­ly for infra-red photography

Pho­to­graph aban­doned build­ings, lone trees, drainage chan­nels and expan­sive Fen­land skies

Vis­it both open agri­cul­tur­al land­scapes and atmos­pher­ic wet­land areas

Infra-red edit­ing and print­ing tuto­r­i­al included

Return home with two fin­ished A3 prints