PAUL COPE
PAUL COPE
THE POWER OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND MOTHER NATURE
Well where do I start … Most people would say at the beginning , so that ’ s where I will start . I first met Mick and Karen at the Camping and Caravan club site in Clent , West Midlands around April , May 2015 . All images in this article ( c ) Paul Cope
At first , we passed pleasantries saying hello to each other whilst walking our dogs , and after a couple of days I got chatting to Karen where it transpired that we both not only had a passion for our beloved dogs , but also for photography . Karen explained that her reason for being at the site was the fact that she and her husband Mick were going around the country choosing locations to explore and photograph for a project that they were doing entitled “ On Your Doorstep ”. This was since most people didn ’ t have a clue that right on their doorstep they had amazing areas . I asked Karen why she chose this location and she informed me that they had placed a pin in a map and Stourbridge was where it landed . ( Seems like a good way as any to me ).
After chatting and both of us fussing each other ’ s dogs , she explained what the project was about and invited me to enter the competition that was being run at the end of the location shoot . Karen invited my wife and I to the private viewing of the images they had taken around the location , held the day before it was going to be open to the public . The exhibition was being held at the Bonded Warehouse in Stourbridge , which was not far away from where I live . Karen also informed me that if my image was successfully chosen as a winner , it would be exhibited alongside their own .
Following returning home I entered the competition and to my amazement I won ! This was the first competition I ’ d ever entered , so you could imagine I was very pleased . To the left is the image I took .
Around the time of entering the competition
I had been signed off work suffering from severe depression , anxiety and stress that later , following a full psychiatric assessment , was diagnosed as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD ). When the day came for me to attend the opening night of the exhibition , I was extremely nervous and scared , as I would be in amongst groups of people and somewhere new .
My wife Maxine came along with me and even though it was stressful , seeing my photograph displayed within Karen and Mick ’ s collection gave me a sense of pride , determination and hope for the future . Karen ’ s black & white images worked well on display made me rethink how I take my images . I had previously experimented with taking black & white images but I always came back to colour . On reflection , I found out that by stripping the colour from images , they took on a new dimension . If you look at an image without colour it emphasises the lines , shapes , textures , depth , shadows and the different contrasts of either black or white . Following the exhibition , I kept in touch with Karen and occasionally sent some of my images to her , which she loved to seeing .
Unfortunately , by the end of 2015 my PTSD had worsened ; I couldn ’ t walk near main roads , be around groups of people , couldn ’ t go anywhere where it was noisy and my concentration and enthusiasm for anything was non-existent . The only reason I left the house was to walk my beloved dog , Bailey , and the fact that we have a canal and fields at the back of our house meant I still could get out into mother nature without having to go near roads .
Even though my enthusiasm for photography had dwindled , my “ happy place ”, which played a huge part in my recovery alongside therapy , was over the fields in amongst “ Mother Nature ”, listening to all the different sounds : the buzzards , the crows , the birds , the rustling of the wind in the trees , the smell of the dew on the grass , feeling the warmth of the sun
48