Celebrate Pawling
Swamp Monsters, The Boardwalk and other stories…….
Phew! March proved to be a busy month! Between school events and Gallery renovations I just didn’t have the time to sit down update the blog, but its all done now, the photos are delivered and LAND Gallery has re-opened for 2025, so now its back to normal, whatever passes for normal these days!!
Of all the iterations of my photography business LAND Gallery is the one in which I am most proud. Since establishing the Gallery in 2018 it has allowed me to grow, both personally and as a photographer by providing the time and the space to be able to develop as well as showcase my work. This year I hope to be able to build on this by improving my reach, both in person and online so that I can get my work in front of a wider range of people. I also have a new logo and would love to know what you think about this ……..
Celebrate Pawling at LAND Gallery
This Spring, if you are able please try to fit a visit to LAND into your schedule, as we have a beautiful space chock full of new and inspiring work. We are open Thursday to Sunday each week and as well as my own work I also represent other local visual artists and artisans. During Spring LAND is all about local and to that end I have developed “The Pawling Collection” a set of images and gifts that celebrate the beautiful area in which I live.
You might remember that towards the end of 2024 I self published my first landscape photography book - “Impressions of Pawling.” Which is a limited edition of 50 signed and numbered copies. It’s sold really well but there’s still a few left to purchase, so don’t miss out…. when they are gone they are gone for good.
The Great Swamp Boardwalk
After moving to the USA in 2009 this was one of the first areas that I explored and remember the thrill of realization that this short little 1/3 mile boardwalk made up a tiny portion of the 2000+ mile Appalachian Trail. It is located off Route 22 to the north of Pawling and is a very special place, so much so that it even has its own train station!
I visit regularly, both with and without the camera. When you leave the road behind and cross over the railway tracks onto the Boardwalk you are quickly swallowed up by the Swamp, becoming immersed in the sights and sounds of another world. It's so close but can feel so remote, until the whistle of a train pulls you back to reality
Here’s a few of my favorite moments:
If you’ve followed my work for a while then you have almost certainly seen the image below. It was taken in mid summer, 2018 just before sunrise and is a moment that I can clearly remember. I was heading along the boardwalk to meet my friend Justin so that we could begin our AT hiker portrait project. As you walk along the boardwalk you are surrounded by dense stands of tall invasive Phragmites, it’s quite claustrophobic but then you round a corner and the view opens out. On this particular morning it took my breath away, I just had to stop and photograph it!!
This photo remains very special to me, not only has it won awards but it represents a moment in my photography career when I chose to change course and follow my passion along a path that would prove to be fulfilling to me and my artistic ambitions.
Night to Day. Midsummer morning on the Great Swamp Boardwalk, Pawling, New York
I’ve never been able to recreate anything like “Night to Day” since, but there was that night in October 2024 when I was chasing the Aurora and decided to head out onto the boardwalk to the same spot. My time out there coincided with a solar flare of some sort because suddenly the whole sky started to glow with color, I was so damned excited that my little happy dance must have made me look and sound like some crazy swamp monster!! The pictures were well worth it though
Aurora at the Boardwalk, Pawling, New York
I do love a bit of layering in the landscape, and this next photo was taken during another priceless foggy summer sunrise out along the Boardwalk. Walking out towards the far end and the Swamp River I was completely enveloped in a dense morning mist, it was an all out assault on my sense of sound. Imagination was the key as the day came alive around me totally unseen, but then I stopped and look back towards the sun……… wait isn’t that a tree line slowly appearing out of the mist? Cue camera, watch, wait, take photo and repeat until sight returns and the richness of the land around me has been fully revealed in all its Summer glory
Golden Morning: An early morning Summer mist is burnt away as the sun rises over the adjacent hillside
Over Christmas 2019 I was booked by a local family for a portrait session out on the Boardwalk, imagine my surprise when they asked to do the session in the early morning, complete with teenagers and family dogs! It was a cold but beautiful start to the day and I could hear them heading towards me as I grabbed this opportunity in the stillness of the new morning. The portrait session went well too.
Winter Sunburst: They might be invasive but the Phragmites sure look beautiful in the Golden rays of the morning sun
Another dense and foggy morning in early Summer and another early walk on the Boardwalk. This was one of those times when the fog just lingered and drifted, it was incredibly surreal listening to the birdlife and watching small familiar features drift in and out of my vision. This was one of those times, I shot from low angle with a shallow depth of field to add a bit of foreground interest to an otherwise empty view.
Foggy Daze
I’m going to finish this blog with another favorite photo of the Swamp River, but one that was taken just a little way north of the Boardwalk from the side of the road on old route 22. That morning I was actually heading to the Boardwalk when I decided to stop here, it was around 5.20am and I knew that a train was due, because Nate was waiting at the Village station for it to take him to work! I stopped because it was such a beautifully still morning, though I clearly remember the disruption that the train briefly caused as it clattered south towards Pawling.
Morning Commute: A Harlem Valley commuter train heads past the Swamp River on it’s way south towards the City
Thanks for taking the time to read these musings and my tiny celebration of a very small part of Pawling. All these photos and more can be seen at LAND Gallery in the Center of the Village and I’d love to see you there.
I am thrilled to showcase some beautiful new work this year. As well as my photography the Gallery represents other local photographers and visual artists Linda T Hubbard, Rebecca Tocci, Phyllis Chadwick, Kelly Edwards as well as local artisans Ed Bryan, Ann Heywood, Karen Ostrom, Genevieve Jan and Alexandra Seebold
We are open Thursday to Sunday each week and will also be participating in the Pawling wide Mothers Day Stroll on Friday 9th May from 6pm-8pm. Mark your calendars and I’ll see you at LAND