Harry Cory Wright: Anglia at Eleven Fine Art

Filling up the space of the small Eleven Fine Art gallery with gorgeous shots of Britain, Harry Cory Wright presents his latest photographs depicting the beauty of Anglia – the eastern lowlands of the British Isles.

Anglia consists of no more than eight large-scale photographs. The limited number of works on show is probably the only fault that can be found, while their stunning beauty easily compensates for that flaw. Each picture aims to depict how Anglia is a mix of the old and the new, a marvellous symbiosis of ancient sights and promises of the modern world. Wright has achieved that by using a ten-by-eight inch wooden Gandolfi plate camera to produce negatives of great clarity. As a result, his photographs boast an impressive level of detail, allowing the viewer to fully appreciate each aspect. This clarity and a great sense of colour is what makes the exhibition worth a visit.

The Eve of St Agnes is one of the most impressive works on show – a vastly detailed depiction of the interior of the church, which puts an emphasis on its thick pillars and stained glass. Although this attention to detail gives the photograph a very pronounced realist agenda, it still manages to play with the space in a way that draws the viewer in and invites them into an almost dreamy, universal place that holds the unpredictability of the future.

Then there are Twilight West Territory, High Pressure and Deep Space North, which hold this same sense of endless prospects, by capturing the beauty of a sunrise – a stunning juxtaposition of the dark, still sleeping earth, and the waking sky, carrying a hint of glorious pink. In contrast, Drain West East is a photograph that embraces a lot colder reality; white sky, white ground and a white swan in the middle of it all, creating another beautiful, enchanting vision full of promise.

All in all, Harry Cory Wright’s newest photographs are stunning images that capture the immense beauty of Anglia and re-evaluate its meaning. An ancient place, carrying plenty of historical meanings with it, is now reimagined as a point in space between past and future that holds a dream for what’s coming.

Lyubomira Kirilova

Harry Cory Wright: Anglia is at Eleven Fine Art until 18^th July 2015, for further information visit here.