I am writing this review of a book by a personal friend. You may think that it is biased or, in fact, an advertisement for him. Paul has his own website, Facebook page and Twitter account that surely do all his advertising for him.
The experience of being with Paul whilst we were using our photography equipment has expanded my imagination, vision and reasoning for doing what I do. We share the passion of photography.
The book itself is of a truly high standard, not only in its contents, but in its form of presentation. The materials used are visually and textually superb. The content of the book is a small selection of Paul’s images in black and white. It is the way he sees the world. He himself admits that he has no time for colour photography. Capturing his style of photography in writing is, I would say, impossible. However, my experience of Paul is that these images are a personal reflection upon himself in the place where the image was created. It is a true representation of Paul, the man, and Paul, the artist. The images that are presented are peaceful, calm and almost two-dimensional, leaving the viewer to complete his or her own interpretation, not only of Paul but of the place he has photographed. The images contained within the book were taken by Paul as part of the process of healing from his own personal struggles. This is an area in which Paul and I both overlap, having shared similar traumatic struggles in our lifetimes.
Paul has produced a stunning book with much encouragement from the people around him, that know him and that love him. Personally, I also made encouraging comments on every internet posting from Paul that I found in the hope that one day he might collate a collection of images into a book. I am delighted that he has now done so. I have also been privileged to see Paul’s printed work in exhibitions. Although personally I do not own a large picture created by Paul, I am now the proud owner of a few small images in this, his first ever book, which had a limited publication of 150 copies. Unsurprisingly, this was sold out very quickly. I do hope, for all you people that wish to have a copy, that at some stage Paul may publish a second edition.
Paul is a “mindfulness” photographer and in fact teaches this, of which I have first-hand experience. I can totally recommend his courses. Please use this link to his website for more information: https://www.discoverstill.com
M