Damian Ward

Damian Ward

I have been a keen landscape photographer for almost fifteen years. I live on the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire border, close to the Chiltern Hills. I started mainly photographing woodlands in colour. I have since progressed to work predominantly in black and white on various subjects, but trees still feature heavily in my work.

damianwardphotography.co.uk

Michéla Griffith

In 2012 I paused by my local river and everything changed. I’ve moved away from what many expect photographs to be: my images deconstruct the literal and reimagine the subjective, reflecting the curiosity that water has inspired in my practice. Water has been my conduit: it has sharpened my vision, given me permission to experiment and continues to introduce me to new ways of seeing.

michelagriffith.com

For this issue, we’re talking to the man behind the black cat: Damian Ward. Damian lives north-west of London in an area that is not one of the UK’s more obvious photographic honeypots but does have some rather nice woodland and includes the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. By working locally he is able to fit image making around work and family life and has a connection with a place that he can trace back to childhood.

Would you like to tell readers a little about yourself – your education, early interests and career to date?

I grew up in a small Oxfordshire village, surrounded by countryside and woodland, so being outdoors and wandering around fields and woodland has always been something I like to do. I still live close by, so the woodland and fields of my early years often feature in my photographs.