Dilapidated Buildings

About This Group

This group is devoted to works of art that are inspired by old, dilapidated, falling down, surviving, barns and abandoned buildings immortalizing their beauty and adding history as known.

Hello there! Here are the answers (as they are) for the interview. It has been hard to find time to sit and think about the answers.
#1. Tell us a little about yourself? Where do you live and what makes you tick?

I am 37 years old and live in Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, England, although I originate from the States. I am originally from the small town of Carthage in East Texas. The proud parent of 3 kids, I enjoy teaching them outdoor skills. I am a great lover of the outdoors, taking every opportunity to camp or hike, usually in the rural areas around us. I particularly like Derbyshire’s Peak District with all it’s history. One of my other favourite places to go is the Channel Islands and more specifically, Jersey and Guernsey. I consider myself a ‘country boy’ and have always associated with the rural lifestyle having worked on ranches and farms. I enjoy hard labour in the fields. This love of all things outdoors and rural feeds into my photography greatly. I use a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark ll camera and love it so much. The one thing that influences my work and my life more than any other thing is my faith, my relationship with Jesus. i have worked as a Youth Worker for over 14 years, and my photography has been a means of sharing my faith with so many around me. I have worked in churches and have used my skills in building up community, running photography classes and clubs.

2 What and/or who brought you to redbubble?
Back at the beginning of July I joined a Photography Competition application on Facebook. Over a number of months I made so many new friends on there, sharing and learning new skills in digital photography, and just getting to know each other. A large number of my new friends, like Donell Trostrud, Honor Kyne, Kory Trapane, and Nathalie Chaput as well as many others that I don’t have room to mention were actually members of Redbubble and encouraged me to join and share my photography with this large community of talented photographers. Finally, in September of 2008 I decided to join, and Iam so very pleased that I did. I have been able to not only develop those friendships more, but I have also made so many more new friends.

#3 What made you decide to join our group?

Having been raised in rural situations all my life, I am very familiar with old barns and abandoned houses or buildings. They are often part of my everyday landscape. When I lived in Derbyshire, England, the area was surrounded with old stone barns and storage buildings that have been standing for hundreds of years. I love the rustic feel and materials used in these buildings. I can see the beauty in the abandoned and falling apart. To a certain degree, it follows my faith quite closely. It was Jesus who came to save and heal the lost and hurting. He sees the beauty in everyone, just as I and other artist in the group see the beauty in these dilapidated buildings.

#4 Which image or artist in our group inspires you?

That is a very hard question for me to answer. There are so many brilliant shots that I have seen on here and love, and there are so very many wonderful artists who are members of this group. I find it very hard to narrow it down to one. If I mention one, I have to leave unmentioned dozens more. I suppose if pressured to limit it, there is one name that pops out again and again in my mind as a brilliant artist, a wonderful encouragement, and a good friend, and that is Steve Liptrot. His art work is amazing and has encouraged me to develop my skills in HDR photography. Please understand that I could say the same thing about many more people on here as well.

#5 Who would you thank in redbubble for the most inspiration to you?

Oh boy! You have done it again. Such a hard question to answer. There are too many to count. One of my closest friends on here is George Parapadakis, or better know by his redbubble name monocotylidono. He has been a great inspiration and encouragement as has been another close friend Vikram Franklin, and then there is Nathalie Chaput, oh and Paul McGuire, as well as Robert (aka dancinfreakshow). The list goes on and on I’m afraid. Each and everyone of these good, close friends have been and continue to be living inspirations by their words of encouragement and their fabulous, and I mean fabulous artwork and photography. I want to say thank you to them all.

#6 Is there anything you would like to share with us about your winning piece?

Most of what I have put in the photo description is what I would like to share. Derbyshire is a very special place to me. This photo was taken just above the village of Eyam where I used to live in the Peak District. On this particular day, there was a freezing fog and a light dusting of snow which made travelling quite difficult. I made my way slowly across the top road which ran along the top of the cliffside. This disused barn had always intrigued me so I decided to see how the frost and snow had affected it. When I got there, this was the scene I saw. What wonderful timing I had. I love this shot so much. It represents everything I love about the history of the Peak District of Derbyshire. It also brings back so many great memories.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to share with everyone part of my journey in photography and in life. I am truly honoured to be featured, and thank you to all the amazing artist in this group and in RB.

Thank you Bradley for taking time to let us know you better. Your work makes our group proud!

See the group rules and join this group here