James Ravilious

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James Ravilious (22 August 1939 - 29 September 1999), was an English photographer.

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[edit] Early life

Ravilious was born in Eastbourne on 22 August 1939, the son of the neo-romantic artist Eric Ravilious.

Having previously studied as an accountant, Ravilious made a career change and entered into St Martin's School of Art, London, in 1959 under the assumed name of Souryer. He then served as a teacher at Hammersmith College for seven years.

In 1970 James married Caroline (known as Robin) Whistler, daughter of glass-engraver and poet Laurence Whistler. Together they had two children.

[edit] Photography

Inspired by seeing an exhibition of the work of French photographer Henri Cartier Bresson, Ravilious took up photography shortly after moving with his wife to Devon during the 1970s. He was asked to contribute work to the Beaford Archive, intended as a means of documenting images that show the lifestyle associated with a small area of North Devon. What began as a short-term project turned into a seventeen year quest, with Ravilious making some 80,000 black and white images for Beaford Arts, and preserving some additional 5,000 old photographs of the area. The archive is now an internationally important collection.

[edit] Further reading

  • Hamilton, Peter. An English Eye: The Photographs of James Ravilious. Tiverton: Devon, 1998. ISBN 1855226286.
  • Ravilious, James. A Corner of England: North Devon Landscapes and People. Tiverton: Devon, 1996. ISBN 0-86114-897-5
  • Ravilious, James. Down the Deep Lanes. Devon, 2001. ISBN 1-85522-743-6
  • Ravilious, James. Heart of the Country. London: Scolar, 1980. ISBN 0-85967-590-4

[edit] External links