Welcome

Written for ‘Skills, Smells and Spells’, an exhibition held at the Strand Gallery in central London:

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012Each image here has a story to tell, a history and a catalogue of memories.

Just like a familiar pair of old shoes, a favourite pen or the creak of the springs on a childhood bed. Time, use and repetition bury memories deep into the psyche, making them a part of you, your essence and your being.

In that way, these photographs live within me: my surroundings when I took them, the smells, the sounds and the emotions all shimmer and babble somewhere in the deep recesses of me.

The images grow stronger with time, not weaker. As I print them, study them, work on them and live with them they evolve and flourish within, sharing their experiences, possibly improving me as a person, but definitely improving me as a photographer.

Yet that moment, that instant in which a photograph is created – the shutter released – is so fleeting, instinctive and immediate. How is it that when the light floods through the lens so much happens, so much is captured, far beyond what is frozen on film and caught in time?

And how does the film, in that split second, capture the essence of me behind it as well as the scene before it?

These questions are constantly asked of me by my photographs and the journey involved in their creation – questions that I have lived with and tried to answer as this exhibition has grown within me, exploding to life here, on these walls.

And as the answers came I found they involved a pinch of magic and mysticism, hidden amongst the science and chemicals of analogue photography. I found they shone a light on my passion for my work, a love of the pace film forces upon me, the frustrations it provides and the boundaries I must work within.

My love and passion for these images – and everything that has brought them to life – transcends the personal history and memories I share with them. I hope these worlds created by that apparent magic and mysticism will shimmer and speak to you, the viewer, too.

Images of Skills, Smells and Spells at The Strand Gallery. PV images by Jim Shannon

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012. Photograph by Jim Shannon.

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012. Photograph by Jim Shannon.

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012. Photograph by Jim Shannon.

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012. Photograph by Jim Shannon.

Skills, Smells and Spells  by Toby Deveson at The Strand Gallery in London, May and June 2012. Photograph by Jim Shannon.

Latest

Swarm

It was as simple as ‘get to the top of Finland and turn left’.  At least that is

Blink and you’ll miss it

Iceland. Never has the essence of a country so closely resembled the way in which I see the

Under the Stars in Madagascar

There are times when writing about memories from as far back as my eighteenth year feels wrong. How

Viewpoints

The Rooftop Collective exhibition edition VI Tempus Fugit. So they say. Here we are again, another Rooftop Collective

Memories

Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches

When you are on a 64 hour journey down the spine of Madagascar on the back of a

Speedometers and Bikes

When cycling around Eastern Europe it was very low-tech for Morgan and I. Our decision was spur of

Confiscation in Aden

This was one of those moments when something inside you withers away and dies. I was only just

Knee Deep in Prayer

I stood knee deep in the water and prayed. Prayed. If ever a word had connotations, it’s ‘prayed’.

Randomly Selected

West of the Sun: Quotes

One of the things that has always given me great pleasure when I read a book is the

Alter Egos in the Dunes

I have often wondered what it was in particular that attracted me to photography. What it was that

Jim Shannon: Competition Winner

STA Travel Exotic Cultures Photographic Competition 2010: There is always something heart warming about receiving good news. The

Welcome

Written for ‘Skills, Smells and Spells’, an exhibition held at the Strand Gallery in central London: Each image