01 FROSTY MORNING IN CONSTABLE COUNTRY
Taken on a late December morning, this scene in the heart of Dedham Vale in Suffolk has changed little since the time of the great painter 200 years ago
Lens Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM
Exposure ⅙ sec, f/16, ISO100
LET’S FACE IT, if you had to draw up a list of the top five UK locations for landscape photography, East Anglia would struggle to be included. For many people, the premier league of landscape locations would be the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Scottish Highlands, Snowdonia and the Peak District. But ask landscape photographer Justin Minns to explain why the counties that make up East Anglia should also be taken seriously and it’s hard not to be persuaded by his reasoning. Furthermore, Justin has produced a landscape photography book about arguably the most maligned of English counties, Essex. He’s also not slow to defend the photographic appeal of the county where he was born and raised. “Most people think of Essex as the overspill from the edge of London and the horrible reality TV shows, white stilettos and boy racers, that sort of thing,” he says. “But 70 per cent of Essex is farmland, and once you get away from the busy southern part, there are lovely little villages and little coastal places.” Today, Justin lives just across the border in Suffolk and, although he makes regular forays to Britain’s better-known landscape locations, as well as winter trips to Iceland, it is the seasonal moods of East Anglia that provide him with the daily inspiration he needs to sustain his photography…
I believe this year is your 10th anniversary as a landscape photographer. Is that correct?
Yes, initially it was alongside a day job, it started off part-time and it really was a hobby that just got out of hand.
That’s a nice line…
I enjoyed landscape photography and it was a relaxation thing.
