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John Woodman
John Woodman is an experimental film/video and photographic artist who works with and
investigates landscape. His films have been screened at international festivals, and film installations have been shown in numerous galleries across the world.
Woodman was one of the founding members of the Undercut Magazine Collective and a co-editor and designer from 1981-86. He has worked in collaboration with Jean Matthee, films; NEXT DOOR and DOUBLE DOORS 1981 and with Roger Polley from 1980-2000, on photographic projects, commissions and film installations. This work has been exhibited in many national and international galleries and also featured on Channel 4.
Books and DVD’s published on the work include the Structure of Chance, 1985, Spirit ofNature,
1994, In Search of the Sacred, 2002, Sequences, 2007, Ruskin’s Pond, 2010, OfTruth of Water-
John Ruskin, 2010 (as editor), Nature Reconstructed-Projects, Commissions and Installations 1980-2000, Roger Polley and John Woodman 2023, Directory of Experimental Landscape Films and Videos, 2023, DVD’S: Landscape Films- JohnWoodman 1977-1982, published by LUX, UK, 2013 and Film Installations1979-1985, Roger Polley and John Woodman.
FRAGMENTS FROM TIME AND SPACE- Wholes and Parts: Holon Images Derived From Films and Videos (2025 soft back, 2026 hardback) His recent work continues his investigation, through the observation of landscape and natural phenomena, of issues concerning representation, duration and perception. Using a fixed frame and hand held camera the work explores concerns of time-space and light, focusing on visual transformation, change and transience. Working in ‘Real Time', particular emphasis is given to the way in which, through time, changes in light, weather and season affect our perception of space and place in film.
Consideration of reflexivity and the spectator’s phenomenological experience of viewing and the contemplation of video and film of long continuous duration is an important aspect of his work.
Currently appointed as an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Cumbria.
November Morning
Continuing with an exploration of landscape film and issues of observation and representation, November Morning contributes to an ongoing philosophical film/video enquiry into time-space and an interest in the physics and metaphysics of light. Particularly in the way in which, through time, changes in light and season affect the way in which we perceive space.
Through a long continuous take filmed on a cold November morning in Cumbria, UK. The video presents the spectator with a 'real-time' phenomenological experience of change, transience, and transformation. As the mist begins to clear, more of the landscape is gradually perceived. The mist also works as a screen to both reveal and obscure the intensity of the sun's light. Eventually, the mist returns, and once again the video space is changed.
The handheld camera and the distinctive way in which this registers movement,
together with the acknowledgement of the spectator/viewer's position within the cinematic experience, have become important aspects of my video work. The possibility of chance is built into November Morning in both image and sound, especially 'out of frame' sound, allowing for unpredictable phenomena to occur throughout the duration of the recording. The spectators' perception and phenomenological viewing experience are intrinsic aspects of this work, both in the observation of what is occurring on screen and in self-observation.
© November Morning, John Woodman, 2010
FIRST LIGHT
FIRST LIGHT was filmed through mist directly into the sun at dawn just after sunrise on a winter’s morning in 2018. It is a reflection on light, duration and visual transformation. Filmed handheld in one continuous take at a constant aperture, trees very gradually appear out of the mist with their distorted long shadows typical of the first light of day. Unpredictable and chance elements occur throughout the filming process.
"It is a very particular light, this first light, throwing long shadows across the foreground, staying away from the dark corners where trees dissolve into nothingness' - Diana Stevens
From the introduction to ROBERT GROVES- FIRST LIGHT, IKON Gallery, 2007.
© First Light, John Woodman, 2007
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