Newark Castle (January 2020)

Newark Castle is a fine structure with a long history dating back to 1135 and was the site of King John’s death in 1215. King John is probably best known as the villain in the Robin Hood films and stories.

Left derelict after the English Civil War it was later restored in the mid 19th Century. A watercolour painted by JMW Turner in 1796 gives an insight to the state of the castle prior to its restoration:

J. M. W. Turner / Public domain

All Turner’s paintings are wonderfully atmospheric and Newark Castle is no exception. I particularly enjoy placement of the people and boats in the composition, the subtle tones of light and shadow, the masterful sky and the wonderful rendering of the river with reflections.

Of course, it is a tough ask to follow Turner’s painting with a set of photographs, but I will give it a go...

The following selection was taken more by chance than design. I happened to be walking near the castle in Newark when there was a change in the light. For a ten minute period the overcast conditions gave way to some lovely afternoon sunshine. I tried to make the most of the opportunity including a few compositions with a similar point of view to Turner’s painting:


                                  

I can’t help but wonder what Turner would have made of photography particularly when I look at his sketchbooks. I note how often he recorded depictions of light which he later translated into his paintings. Perhaps we take for granted today’s technology that allows us to capture a moment of light in the split of a second as demonstrated in this last image of the afternoon, recorded on my phone: