A SPACE TO GROW - ROYAL RECOGNITION FOR AN EXCEPTIONAL COLLECTION OF IMAGES ABOUT WELLESBOURNE ALLOTMENTS BY ROB LAVERS
ROB, OUR TALENTED PHOTOGRAPHER IN RESIDENCE, HAS BEEN VISITING OUR SITE FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS TO TAKE IMAGES OF OUR PLOT HOLDERS & THEIR BEAUTIFUL ALLOTMENTS, AS WELL AS OUR SPECIAL EVENTS SUCH AS THE NGS OPEN DAYS.
IN NOVEMBER 2021, ROB WAS AWARDED HIS ASSOCIATESHIP OF THE ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY ( ARPS ) FOR ‘A SPACE TO GROW’ - HIS BODY OF WORK ABOUT WELLESBOURNE ALLOTMENTS.
ROB SAID, ‘ IT ALL BEGAN THREE YEARS AGO AFTER ADDING MY NAME ON A PETITION TO SAVE THE SITE FROM SALE & DEVELOPMENT & I OFFERED TO HELP WITH PHOTOGRAPHIC WORK TO HELP RAISE PUBLICITY IN SUPPORT OF THEIR CAMPAIGN.
SINCE THEN I HAVE DOCUMENTED THE EVERYDAY LIFE OF PLOT HOLDERS, AS WELL AS SPECIAL EVENTS LIKE THE OPENING OF OSCAR’S DEMENTIA PLOT, SPENDING THE DAY WITH THE BBC COUNTRYFILE FILM UNIT, & THIS SUMMER THE VERY POPULAR OPEN DAY, ALL OF WHICH APPEARED IN THE LOCAL PRESS .’
THE ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY (RPS), ONE OF THE WORLD'S OLDEST PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETIES, WAS FOUNDED IN 1853 TO PROMOTE THE ART & SCIENCE OF PHOTOGRAPHY & WHOSE CURRENT PATRON IS THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE.
TO RECEIVE AN RPS AWARD OF ASSOCIATE, ROB WAS REQUIRED TO SUBMIT 15 IMAGES WHICH DEMONSTRATED A HIGH STANDARD TECHNICAL ABILITY & AN UNDERSTANDING OF CRAFT & ARTISTIC PRESENTATION, TOGETHER WITH A WRITTEN STATEMENT EXPLAINING HIS WORK.
‘A SPACE TO GROW’, ROB EXPLAINED, ‘AIMS TO CAPTURE THE UPLIFTING & NURTURING SPIRIT OF THE WELLESBOURNE ALLOTMENT SITE, LENT POIGNANCY BY PLANS TO SELL THE SITE FOR DEVELOPMENT.
THE SOCIAL, PHYSICAL & MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS PROVIDED BY ALLOTMENTS WERE IDENTIFIED AT THE TIME BY THE INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD, SO OFFERING A RARE POSITIVE ASPECT TO THE DEVASTATING PANDEMIC & ON WHICH I DECIDED WAS THE FOCUS FOR MY SUBMISSION’.
PREPARING MY SUBMISSION INVOLVED MANY MORE HOURS THAN IMAGINED, SO I WAS DELIGHTED TO HEAR POSITIVE COMMENTS FROM THE JUDGES & BE AWARDED THIS DISTINCTION.
I REMAIN EXTREMELY GRATEFUL FOR THE PATIENCE & FRIENDLY COOPERATION OF ALL THE PLOT HOLDERS’.
‘A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS’, SAID SHARON UNDERHILL, THE PRESS OFFICER AT WELLESBOURNE ALLOTMENTS, ‘ROB’S PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTRIBUTION IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE THE ALLOTMENTS FROM DEVELOPMENT & WE HOPE HE CONTINUES TO VISIT OUR VILLAGE ALLOTMENTS FOR MANY YEARS TO COME.
ROB’S EXQUISITE IMAGES ARE MUCH MORE THAN AN INTERESTING SOCIAL DOCUMENT OF THE LIVES OF WELLESBOURNE’S CURRENT PLOT HOLDERS.
THEY SHOW HOW SPIRITUALLY NURTURING AN ALLOTMENT CAN BE, THE INTENSE PLEASURE WE GAIN FROM GROWING OUR OWN FOOD &, HOW VALUABLE THEY ARE IN SUPPORTING LOCAL BIODIVERSITY & SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE AS WELL AS PROVIDING A SPACE FOR OUR CHILDREN’S EDUCATION.
RESEARCH HAS PROVED BEYOND DOUBT THAT KEEPING AN ALLOTMENT BENEFITS THE ENVIRONMENT & ONE OF THE HEALTHIEST ACTIVITIES FOR ANYONE AT ANY AGE.
IT WILL BE MORE THAN A FEW CABBAGES THAT’LL BE LOST IF OUR ALLOTMENTS ARE SACRIFICED FOR ANOTHER NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT’.
A SPACE TO GROW BY ROBERT LAVERS RIBA ARPS - NOW 74 PAGE BOOK OF OVER 100 IMAGES OF WELLESBOURNE ALLOTMENTS CAN PREVIEWED HERE & IS AVAILABLE AS A DOWNLOAD (£5.50) OR AS A PRINTED BOOK (£60.00).
