Revenants and Remains at Lanercost Priory

I was attracted to the architectural shapes in the ruins and the repetition and rule of thirds in the window as they framed the natural world beyond (which is my particular specialism). I used a red gel to the front of my lens to echo the violent tales of the monks that had lived at the Priory, as retold to us by the English Heritage historian and Gothic literature expert, which I found a particular highlight of my visit to the Priory.

I was given the incredible opportunity to work alongside and in collaboration with Photoworks and English Heritage, using the theme of ‘Revenants and Remains’.

I am fascinated by themes of mortality, decay, and the passage of time, which are recurring motifs of the Gothic. As an artist, I am drawn to the dark, mysterious, and haunting beauty of Gothic photography and my work explores the eerie and disturbing, often inspired by the Gothic literature, architecture, and art of the past.

Through my photographs, I aim to create a sense of unease and intrigue, inviting viewers to enter a world that is both familiar and unsettling. I used a variety of techniques to achieve this, such as low light, high contrast, and dramatic angles, which enhance the ominous atmosphere of my images.

After considerable research into possible techniques for illustrating supernatural themes, I decided to go with zooming, as I felt that would illustrate the idea of ‘haunted’ suitably. I feel like this image illustrates the theme very well, as it looks like there’s a weird thing outside the window, with the lighting grabbing the attention of the viewer and making them look towards the bright light shining through. I really enjoyed going out Lanercost Priory and participating in this project. I enjoyed exploring the location and I love some of the images I created for this project.

The main inspiration for my images comes from the modern-day common depictions of ghosts. I used slow shutter speed and white veil for the majority of my ghostly images to create translucent ‘ghosts’ that move within the image and create an anxious feeling in the viewer.

The ectoplasm image (alongside my other images) was edited to have a higher contrast, making it look like it is glowing in a similar way to the popular film ‘Goosebumps’. Lanercost Priory also inspired me because of the uneasy atmosphere created by the parts of the ruined building that you can see within the images.

I produced these images as part of a live brief collaborating with Photoworks and English Heritage. I enjoyed the experience and was inspired by different talks about the history of the Priory and intended to produce work that reflects the ghosts of the monks that lived there.

When producing these images, we used different materials as an outfit to create a ghostly figure. I also used shadow to create some haunting images. The project was a success, in which I produced images that display ghostly figures. A personal highlight of this project was having the opportunity to work with well-respected organisations and different artists in producing the photographs, as well as working on different ways to display your images.

The work I created at Lanercost Priory highlights ghost-like appearances and haunted architectural shots, which illustrate the supernatural heritage of the site. I used various pieces equipment which included coloured gels, tripod, filters and 50mm lenses. One reason I chose to use red and orange coloured gels is because it creates this vibrant but scary deception of the sky, and shows off some amazing detail within the architectural structures, highlighting its history and roots. I also used a polarizing filter which created a dark and dreary sky that I wanted to capture. I worked with a fellow student of mine to create a ‘ghost’ using a sheet over her, which looked like what was imagined to be a ghost-like figure, which worked really well.

I became inspired during the discussions with Dr Dale Townshend, Professor of Gothic literature and Dr Michael Carter, English Heritage Senior Properties Historian, who shared many stories and facts which got me thinking creatively about the environment we were in. Artist Sarah Sparkes also helped me to be creative by presenting many props and ideas which we could try out whilst at Lanercost Priory. I also saw many example pieces of other artists’ work, which allowed me to see the thought processes behind their images and made me challenge myself whilst shooting.

Hearing all the great ghost stories from the Priory inspired this image in my head, which I ran with going forward with the shoots. I feel as if I put my own twist on what I imagine a supernatural entity would be like. A huge inspiration for me was looking at photos that were captured using long exposure to create lines and blurs of motion. I wanted to give my images a unique look and when doing my research, I found a lot of old analogue images that had been taken using double exposures. I then edited the images to have dust and scrape added to them too, which gave them a weathered look.

My ideas and concepts were informed by observing the work of artists which includ motifs of the supernatural, specifically Simon Marsden, who has captured the historical building in black and white. I enjoyed exploring the Priory and the history behind it, alongside hearing numerous ghost stories from the historian at English Heritage.

My images were influenced by using external equipment like flashes and tripods, and were further developed in Photoshop. Lanercost Priory has given me an opportunity to stretch myself as a photographer and tell a story through my imagery.

I am a photographer from Newcastle who takes great interest in architectural photography. During this project I was intrigued by working with slow shutter speed as I was trying to create ghostly figures within my work. I found that the slow shutter speed allowed me to create blurry shadows and figures.

I had two trips to Lanercost Priory on this project which gave me time to plan and bring props that I thought would work best within my images. I ended up using bed sheets and coloured gels and I also learnt about ink transferring. This was a new skill to me, and I found it helped in creating distressed work, which linked in with the ruin theme at Lanercost.

I was offered the opportunity to visit Lanercost Priory in collaboration with English Heritage and Photoworks and was asked to take images that relates back to the theme of ‘Revenants and Remains’. I have successfully done that with the use of technical skills I have used in previous projects, such as gels to create a red tinge to my images and using equipment kindly offered to me, such as veils, to help me create ghost-like images.

The inspiration for this photo came from looking at different photographers. I wanted to capture the feeling of movement and light. It was also a great opportunity to get a better perspective on the subject. I have always been fascinated by ghosts and other supernatural phenomena. I conducted extensive research on the subject and found numerous examples of incredible paranormal activity. I was able to gain a better understanding of how these things work and why they are believed to exist. I was happy with my final images as I felt very creative in my ability to capture ghost stories in a photo.