How It All Began — Julian Calverley - I'm In A Wide Open Space

Back in the summer of 2005 I received a call from my friend, creative director Jeremy Harvey. He wanted to know if I’d be interested in going on a road trip to shoot some landscapes.

The assignment involved creating a series of simple graphic images for a brand partnership launch, with Walk Off Mats and global textile giant, Milliken.

The concept was to photograph a mix of locations that contained distinct shapes and textures and that would echo the weave and form of man made fabrics and materials.

It was decided that I’d treat the work with a cool and earthy colour palette, with enough punch and contrast to emphasise the structure and form of the scenes we photographed.

So after deciding on a shortlist of locations, we packed the camera equipment and overnight bags and hit the road.

Jeremy gave me a huge amount of freedom to create the work. All I had to bear in mind when framing and composing was space.. space for the placement of copy and logos.

We drove from location to location experiencing a mix of weather and light. We walked and walked, stopping occasionally when an image presented itself.

Apart from sticking to the number of travel and shoot days we had agreed on, there was really very little pressure. The whole experience was liberating, to say the least.

The results were extremely well received and importantly I’d got a huge amount of satisfaction from ‘making’ the work.

This was a dream commission and certainly the moment I truly fell in love with making work in the landscape. It also turned out that I’d soon go on to make some major changes in my life and career.

To be continued..