JAMES RAVILIOUS
A world in photographs
Alan Bennett narrates James Ravilious: A World In Photographs, a film about one of the great unknowns of British photography. James Ravilious (1939-1999) was the son of the renowned water-colourist and engraver Eric Ravilious, and dedicated his art to a small area of North Devon, where over a period of two decades he took more than 80,000 photographs.
The film returns to key characters photographed by Ravilious, an artist who had that rare ability to extract definitive moments from the most ordinary of situations. In the wake of the rise of supermarkets and globalisation we are taken on a journey into the world of rural communities where value and importance is placed on the minutia of everyday life.
By affirming the lives of the people he photographed, Ravilious also offers insight into the world of photography; a world of decisive moments, where light, composition and timing all come together.
Director: Anson Hartford