Reeth Hillside subtler contrasts
The photograph for the last Rumination pressed heterogeneous elements together: the geometric lines of a bridge against the fluidity of shapes in a tree. Above, the same contrast is detectable, but barely so. The cables, poles and those two parked cars by the house, show that same contrast of the “mass-produced artefacts of civilization” with organic growth. However, here the human endeavours that dominate the scene, eschew the monotonous, and appear as quiet neighbours with the grass and trees. Such apparent concord seems valuable to us; no doubt this is largely due to our cultural and social histories which take such scenery as representative of traditional order and a way of life that we can easily romanticise. The sinuous curves of the walls, dykes and tracks; the stones of the ruin, the house, the walls taken from the nearby hills; and every part made individually, with nowhere any two alike; and all these are human artefacts. Certainly we may often have to live by generalities, indeed we must live by them to be able to act, but we are also able to create particular human spaces which harmonise with, and extend that world in which we originally found ourselves.
harmonise - Go to a page headed Nature's Grain, in the Mosaic Section, linking human patterns with those of the natural world.
The view is from Skelgate Lane which runs above the School by Reeth in Swaledale, northern England. Across the valley is the area known as Deer Park, just up the road from Swale Hall, in Grinton village.
The photograph was taken on a Sony DSC-RX10M3 on 17/05/2026 at 7am. 1/250th at f/5.6 ISO rated at 100. Focal length: 128mm (35 mm equiv).
Saturday 6th June 2026
...guide to this site