Graham Vasey’s Kodak moments at River Greta

Walkers around the River Greta might spot some seriously retro camera equipment in use over the next few weeks.

Between now and the end of the year, Evenwood-based photographer Graham Vasey is exploring the river from the Meeting of the Waters to its source high on Stainmore.

Unusually, though, he’s doing it with a vintage Kodak Eastman 10×8 camera which is more than 100 years old.

“It weighs an absolute ton,” Graham said.

“It’s a big cumbersome thing, and substantially bigger than the camera I’d normally use.

“But it’s got all this lovely mahogany and brass and it allows me to get a larger negative and thus a larger print without having to use digital enhancements.”

And that analogue approach is a key part of Graham’s art.

Previous collections have had him overlaying different negatives, reflecting different eras of the history of his subjects.

His scenes from the dale have a distinctive vintage feel, very different from the familiar digital images we more often see today.

Another reason for using the old camera is the chance to try a new printing process, polymer photo etching.

“Instead of being a darkroom process, this is about etching a plate then transferring it to paper,” he said.

“It’s new to me, and I’m going up to Northern Print in Ouseburn to learn more about how it works.”

It’s not the first time Graham has photographed the Greta, but it will be his first project dedicated to the river.

One motivation is a lifelong love of fishing, something cultivated by his grandfather in the wild streams on the moors.

Then there’s the attraction of following a river from start to finish.

But, at a time when our uplands are coming under threat from development – notably the proposed wind farm on Barningham Moor – it’s a chance to record the environment and its previous encounters with industry.

“It seems so remote up there, but there are remains of the old Stainmore Railway,” Graham pointed out.

“You have these elements of industrialisation along the route.

“The river was used by man, you can see where they powered a water mill at Mill Force.

“But we also have these pressures on our upland landscapes from different things.

“Some of it is important, we need to generate power somewhere.

“But we also need to highlight that environment more.

“Too many people just see it as this big, brown clump.”

Graham is planning to record the Greta between now and the end of the year.

Much of his work is on display at Gallerina in Darlington.

[Format another report with strict-text-formatter](I have another text to format with strict-text-formatter.)
[Apply Cumbria Crack copy-editing rules](Run this through the Cumbria Crack Copy Editor instead.)

Walkers around the River Greta might spot some seriously retro camera equipment in use over the next few weeks.

Between now and the end of the year, Evenwood-based photographer Graham Vasey is exploring the river from the Meeting of the Waters to its source high on Stainmore.

Unusually, though, he’s doing it with a vintage Kodak Eastman 10×8 camera which is more than 100 years old.

“It weighs an absolute ton,” Graham said.

“It’s a big cumbersome thing, and substantially bigger than the camera I’d normally use.

“But it’s got all this lovely mahogany and brass and it allows me to get a larger negative and thus a larger print without having to use digital enhancements.”

And that analogue approach is a key part of Graham’s art.

Previous collections have had him overlaying different negatives, reflecting different eras of the history of his subjects.

His scenes from the dale have a distinctive vintage feel, very different from the familiar digital images we more often see today.

Another reason for using the old camera is the chance to try a new printing process, polymer photo etching.

“Instead of being a darkroom process, this is about etching a plate then transferring it to paper,” he said.

“It’s new to me, and I’m going up to Northern Print in Ouseburn to learn more about how it works.”

It’s not the first time Graham has photographed the Greta, but it will be his first project dedicated to the river.

One motivation is a lifelong love of fishing, something cultivated by his grandfather in the wild streams on the moors.

Then there’s the attraction of following a river from start to finish.

But, at a time when our uplands are coming under threat from development – notably the proposed wind farm on Barningham Moor – it’s a chance to record the environment and its previous encounters with industry.

“It seems so remote up there, but there are remains of the old Stainmore Railway,” Graham pointed out.

“You have these elements of industrialisation along the route.

“The river was used by man, you can see where they powered a water mill at Mill Force.

“But we also have these pressures on our upland landscapes from different things.

“Some of it is important, we need to generate power somewhere.

“But we also need to highlight that environment more.

“Too many people just see it as this big, brown clump.”

Graham is planning to record the Greta between now and the end of the year.

Much of his work is on display at Gallerina in Darlington.