Originally from Northern England, Alan Norsworthy has been a photographer since the late 1960's.

He moved to Canada in 1973 and has made Guelph Ontario his home for the last 24 years.

" I remember visiting the CN Tower in the early 70's and the guide said that as far as you could see in any direction is the best farmland in Canada. That comment echoes down the years as I watch subdivisions eat up the landscape."

The area around Guelph offers up a plethora of rural images which Alan captures with his artistic vision. His work covers everything from macro photographs of flowers, sweeping landscapes, historic buildings and old abandoned farms in both colour and Black and White.

"This is where I find my inspiration, I have a need to show people the beauty I see as I walk the woods and fields of Southern Ontario"


Sunday, November 27, 2011

Help Portrait - Team 4


Help Portrait - Team 4
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy


Yesterday a whole crowd of like minded, giving people from our community gave up their Saturday to help others.
Help Portrait is a growing movement within the photographic community whose aim is to enable us to use our talents in service to others.

What you see here is a small part of that group, team 4, my group.

Back row: Tony, Santa's Brother aka Bob, Jeanne, yours truly
and Little Stephen in front :-)

and many, many, more unseen here but you know who you are.


Karen, Now I understand what you were trying to say ....

The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker. ~Helen Keller

Sunday, November 20, 2011

What light through yonder window breaks


What light through yonder window breaks
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy


Strange isn't it, how I look forward to a walk.

As much as I love exploring new places a walk in an old familiar place, in this case the highways and byways of the University of Guelph, brings a smile.
I don't know how many times I have taken this shortcut or how many times I have photographed it but every visit is new.
Every time, I see something differently.

A few years ago I walked the same path for a year. Watching the woods change.

Spring became summer, summer became autumn, which in turn became winter and finally spring returned again.
I learned a lot that year, I think it is time to do it again....

There is no season such delight can bring
As summer, autumn, winter and the spring.
~William Browne

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Guelph - The other side of the tracks


Guelph - The other side of the tracks
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy


I've been thinking, dangerous I know, but a conversation I had with my friend Doug yesterday as we wandered around Guelph started this line of thought. We were discussing what, to us, makes a good image, why do we like one image versus another?
Is it because we created it?
How do we pass that emotion along to the viewer so that they may see as we do?

All of these questions led to more questions and an inner search for meaning and answers, which led me down this path ...

What drives us?
What sets us (photographers) apart from the rest?

To me the answers lie in: 
We 'feel' the world around us and in doing allows us to see all those mundane things in a different light.
It is this 'feeling' that allows us to see the world around us differently than most people.

For instance, have you ever stood and pondered a scene and had people stop, look, shrug and move on?
Ever had someone ask "what are you looking at?"
I know I have.

That "feeling" is the difference and it drives our desire to share what we 'see' with others.




And that desire--the strong desire to take pictures--is important. It borders on a need, based on a habit: the habit of seeing. Whether working or not, photographers are looking, seeing, and thinking about what they see, a habit that is both a pleasure and a problem, for we seldom capture in a single photograph the full expression of what we see and feel. It is the hope that we might express ourselves fully--and the evidence that other photographers have done so--that keep us taking pictures. 
- Seeing and Shooting Straight by Sam Abell

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Killarney - Atop "The Crack"


Killarney - Atop "The Crack"
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy


It's strange, when I look back through all my images from Killarney I have an overwhelming sense of peace. The one word that comes to mind to explain that peace is 'solitude'.

However I was not alone, far from it.

We (well, I) need these places, these times to remind me of who I am ... just a country boy.

'Cos I'm just a country boy,
Money have I none.
But I've got silver in the stars,
And gold in the morning sun.
Gold in the morning sun.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDt9bPCPBGk&feature=related

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir