Ashley Hatton

The art of landscape photography has fascinated many, from imposing mountains to never ending plains, capturing a landscape has a sort of pride attached to it, where one conquers and subsequently captures an ever changing world. A moment of time is trapped within a snapshot, and is now fixed within the history of time. We give gravity to these places and landscapes, those that channel the sublime, those that inspire us and those that remind us. We strive to capture this moment, and the feelings associated with it. These are the landscapes Ashley Hatton creates, ones that conjure up a time, a place, a memory.

Working under the tutelage of Steve Russell, Ashley Hatton has developed a burgeoning interest in photography into both his job, and hobby. Photographing sculpture and fine art has influenced Ashley’s work in more ways than one may imagine; learning about light and the realities and illusions of space are vital both in and out of the studio. This can be seen in ‘Room with a View’ where Ashley uses the overcast surroundings to his advantage. Creating a set of delicately lit images that unite the wild, shingle landscape of Dungeness and the desolate manmade structures that pepper the shore.

The influence of studio photography on Ashley’s work is clear, he instinctively knows how to position objects- be they mountains or shacks- to make the most of their arrangement in his final photograph. Within sculpture, the negative space is equally as important as the positive. Using this idea, Ashley has removed the traditional confines of landscape photography and began to explore alternate focal points for images. Within ‘Negative Space’ Ashley takes the focus off the land and into the sky, allowing the background to dominate. Here he begins to erase the rule of thirds and give utmost importance to a routinely ignored part of landscape photography.

Prints