HIDDEN WORKS

Charlie Waite is one of Britain’s most collected landscape photographers, whose images hark back to a romantic era when beauty in the landscape was a refuge from the continuous busyness of modern life.

Waite’s latest exhibition, Hidden Works, showcases images taken from all over the world – images that, until now, have never been shared. “I have immersed myself once again [in the darkroom]. The whole process of interpreting the negative has always been truly sacred to me; I revisited works created 40 years ago and joyfully looked back at the decades that were spent making silver gelatin prints in the darkroom.”

Hidden Works comprises 52 images (30 colour and 22 black and white) that trace Waite’s career from 1970 to the present day. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the exhibition has successfully gone ahead virtually at Bosham Gallery. “Challenging times call for a change in mindset”, says Luke Whitaker (pictured, on the right), the gallery’s director. Instead, the private view was held online, with Charlie introducing the collection from his own home in Dorset, UK.

Here, discover his five favourites from the new collection, along with insightful commentary on each image, plus a quickfire Q&A at the end of the showcase.

Cienfuegos Study 1, Cuba, 2003

When I look at this, I remember vividly what took place. I was in Cienfuegos, I guess it was probably no more than about 50