"I am a photographer because I have faced myself in the mirror. I sing the song of buildings because their makers showed me the way, and I’m a sculptor of light because - after being plunged into darkness by depression - my camera taught me how to see."
The overall aim behind this Digest is how, through my lens, I can help others cultivate new ways of seeing and feel the benefit in their own lives.
I’m Andy Marshall and I'm an architectural photographer.
One of the most heart-warming responses I've had to the Genius Loci Digest is: "I love seeing the world through your eyes".
For over twenty years I've been seeking out alternative stories in our surviving material culture and sharing them with my photographs and words.
It took a difficult period in my life to find a pathway through photography that helped me discover genius loci -the spirit of place and the deeply moving stories behind the 'so-called' mundane material culture on our doorstep.
What I had to do was find and explore new ways of seeing.
Once I did I never felt alone.
Cultivating alternative ways of experiencing the world has completely changed my life, opened up new career avenues, expanded possibilities and helped me overcome anxiety and depression.
This digest revels in the in-between, the transitional, the presence of absence. My camera with its dials and knobs and sharp focus has taken me into the blur of things. Because something can't be measured it doesn't mean that it isn't there.
Opening our eyes, developing new ways of seeing, articulating nuance, and engaging with the rootedness of our historic environment not only helps with wellbeing, it also helps tease out counter-narratives to our polarised world and initiate hope for the future.
There is so much out there to find: things that are hidden behind the thin veil of our device driven, algorithmic twenty first century selves.
Anything is possible.
The overall aim behind this Digest is how, through my lens, I can help others cultivate new ways of seeing and feel the benefit in their own lives.
Why not come join me and see the world through my lens?
Follow me on my camper-van-camino around Britain.
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"The ray of light which pierced the floor at Hopwood ignited a way of engaging that had intermittently revealed itself at various stages of my life. It’s a state of being that’s hard to describe. It’s a process which involves a shift in consciousness to another way of seeing."
Here's more about my Genius Loci Digest Journey.
And thank you so much, for the keen lens and thoughtful pen you combine so effectively. As long as we can see, and think, there is hope…
Subscriber: Hooklineandstitches
Van Life - My Camper Van Camino
"You are the 21st century version of a wandering minstrel except you tell stories by image not song."
Will (Subscriber)
I travel the length and breadth of the British Isles photographing remarkable places.
I have a home-base in the north of England and travel out from there on lengthy photo projects in the British Isles. I'm a professional architectual photographer and link my travel around the commissoned shoots.
My camper van gets me into places at times that I wouldn’t normally be able to access. I can now stay over on sites to monitor the local conditions and light levels throughout a full 24 hours.
Travelling in the van has been a revelation for me – it feels like a constant pilgrimage, and my photography has been impacted by the diversity of time and place.
Here's an example of one of my time-travelling journeys.
Meet the Photographer
It takes a day a week to produce this digest. With your support, I’m able to keep this digest free and public facing. Read more about my Genius Loci Digest Journey.
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Andy Marshall
Free Memberships
I have a limited number of free memberships available for students studying heritage, tourism, architecture, photography, building conservation, history of art, archaeology. Also students studying the built environment and its impact on mental health and wellbeing. If you'd like to apply, drop me a line with your details.
Really recommend following Andy capturing architecture & urban design across the UK, reminds me of history trips while studying, guided by the formidable arch historian Prof James Stevens Curl https://t.co/N256WxUUyc
— Dr Gill Armstrong MCIAT ARB ❤️🏙📈 (@arch_lintel) January 3, 2023
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