Welcome to Photonomy. My name is Philip Wilson and my passion is the wild landscapes and nature of the UK.
Most of my working life I have been involved in music education, with around 23 years of being Director of Music in secondary schools. In recent years I have been able to spend more time with my camera in the great outdoors, refining the art of making good photographs.
Through the art of photography my aim is to promote the natural world as a means for people to reconnect with our fundamental instincts, regain a better balance as a part of the living world. If others relate to any of my images I’m therefore hoping that it will encourage them to spend time out of the man-made environment, or even to be able to enjoy that environment vicariously if their lives do not allow them to get out, for whatever reason.
Therefore, this website is not primarily a showcase for my photographs or a way to promote my work: important as this role for landscape and nature photographers/artists is, it is equally important to provide channels for people to reconnect with their deeper selves through being exposed to the natural world.
My home is in Newcastle Emlyn in West Wales; this region has some of the most stunning scenery in the whole UK, and photographs of this area feature strongly in this collection.
In 2022 I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a second-hand Vauxhall Vivaro and get it converted for use as a small campervan; this has vastly increased my choices in travelling around the UK for my photography, and taking days or weeks all over Wales and the Scottish Highlands & Islands has been at the heart of my work; crucially, it has meant that I don’t need to plan, can follow my heart and the daily weather conditions, and be flexible in how long I stay in one particular place.
As well as landscapes, I have evolved as a photographer of wildlife and in the field of macro (photographing very small things). I purchased my first macro lens during the Covid outbreak and I have continued to develop in this area ever since. Wildlife, and macro photography have their own very specific techniques and knowledge. The best wildlife photographers will have a prodigous knowledge of their subjects and their habits, and thought it has been very fulfilling to be able to expand my knowledge and understanding of many species, I will never have the breadth of knowledge of a true naturalist for whom the fruits of a lifetime of study and interaction with wildlife, and which are the both the tools of the trade and the raison d’etre for their work; nevertheless I hope that I have made some good and interesting images and learned that capturing the moment is such an important aspect of this work.
Of course, there is space here for some of those technical matters with which photographers are preoccupied in the development of their craft; and scope for discussion around technical issues; ; but as photographers, we should always remember what is central to the activity, and what we have in common with each other.
That is what makes me want to share the images of the natural world that you will find on this site. I have for some years also shared my (low-resolution) images on social media, and I have been overwhelmed with responses I’ve received – places which have been important in people’s pasts triggering memories which have gone right to the heart; or images of places which people can no longer visit for health or other reasons; or simply being bowled over by the beauty of a location. In this regard, the better I can craft a photograph the more I can encapsulate the “soul” of a place, and the more powerful can be the response of a viewer.
For me it’s less a case of researching and finding “locations” popular with photographers, and more a case of being out in the wild and developing the powers of observation: a good photo might or might not be of a “honeypot” location, and will involve the conditions of the moment, time of day, weather, season and a host of other factors. A magical photo can and often does come from a totally unpredictable combination of these factors; conversely, a planned shoot can be ruined by any number of unforeseen changes of weather, lighting and so on.
A wider role for Landscape and Nature photography?
Street photographers can provide commentary on human life and human interactions and play a valuable role in our understanding of society and the minutiae of human behaviour.
Photojournalists fulfil the task of communicating to the wider world the events which shape our history.
Fashion photographers will promote trends, will highlight the qualities of models and the clothing or hair styles which they are displaying, thereby fulfilling an incredibly important role in that industry.
… but LANDSCAPE and NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY – what is that for, many people ask?
Outside our own world it has often thought of as escapist, irrelevant to society and philosophically unchallenging.
It is true that has this changed a little in recent years, and nature photography has found a new role in promoting conservation and highlighting the degradation of the environment, by showing the natural world to those who may be lacking affinity with nature, as a result perhaps of city-based lifestyles cocooned in purely human affairs, or because the political and economic system of much of the world regards nature as a resource for exploitation, merely a tool for production and growth.
At the same time we photographers should try to escape the role merely of being advertisers of “iconic” locations for wealthy travellers; and similarly avoid becoming self-referencing through the search for approval amongst other photographers by following current trends too closely, and identifying success by restricting ourselves to the locations and editing techniques which seem to be in vogue.