About the Photographer
Hi - my name is Paul Mann, and I live and work in Devon, UK.
My interest in photography is driven by a lifelong passion for the wild places - the mountains, moors and shores - of the British Isles. Over the years I have walked and scrambled extensively across Dartmoor (my local patch), the Cornish coast, the English Lake District, the uplands of Wales, and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. My aim is to convey on camera just a small part of the natural beauty and wonder which these special places evoke. Since this is easier said than done, my real aim is simply to appreciate my surroundings and have some fun along the way!
For most of my past excursions I have used a fairly basic camera as a device for documenting my journey, following planned routes and taking snapshots as I go. But from around 2020, armed with a new camera and a growing awareness of ‘maturing’ limbs, I have tried to adopt a mindset which strives for quality over quantity... in short, to plan shoots rather than routes! Whilst this rarely yields results which match the mind’s eye, I've found that the underlying act of immersion carries its own rich reward.
(Western Highlands, Sept 2023)
Portfolio
The best means of viewing my main photographic highlights is via my Portfolio page. From here, various sub-categories can be perused. (For quick links to all of my main sub-pages, please use the header bar at the top of this website…)
My Portfolio images are categorised by the genre of photography, irrespective of when or where each picture was taken. This allows topics and themes to be developed… and by illuminating pros and cons (perhaps revealing gaps in my collection), it may even help to inform my future endeavours!
For ease of access, recently-captured additions to my Portfolio are presented under New. This means that my New section has a fairly high rate of churn, although any ‘keepers’ should soon be transferred to their respective Portfolio genre pages (as well as featuring somewhere in my Annual Galleries, depending on the vintage of each image).
Brief tasters of my Portfolio sub-categories are displayed below - to drill down further, please see my main Portfolio page…
West Highland Sunset
(Castle Tioram, Loch Moidart)
“Photographer at Work” by Karen Scott (May 2020)
Annual Galleries (from 2020)
My Annual Gallery page - listed in the header menu as Galleries - provides summaries and links associated with my yearly photographic output.
It all begins with my 2020 Gallery, before moving on - as you might expect - to equivalent offerings from subsequent years. (Anything earlier than 2020 falls into the realm of my Archive pages, of which more later.)
Despite being overshadowed by the first Covid lockdown, 2020 was my inaugural year of anything resembling planned ‘photoshoots’. These were initially conducted close to home (out of necessity!), before branching out to a favoured holiday destination of recent times: Scotland’s Isle of Arran.
As 2021 and then 2022 came around, my galleries were increasingly expanded to cover the stories behind the camera (perhaps taking on the character of blogs!). These tales include midnight encounters in the dark Devon countryside, as well as repeat adventures on Arran and frequent excursions to the rugged Cornish coast (home of the famed Twilight Challenge!).
And, of course, these wouldn’t be landscape photography galleries if the occasional lone tree didn’t put in an appearance - not to mention more animated living things, from birds and bees to seals and selkies(?)!
For new content (or old favourites) as we move through 2023 into 2024 (and beyond), I also recommend checking out my Portfolio and Blog collections. :-)
Archive Imagery
Cloggy, Snowdon Massif
(Wales, March 2006)
For posterity, I have also created galleries which date from my earlier (pre-2020) photographic phase, mostly in the form of ad-hoc holiday snaps, collages or pictorial mementos of walking trips.
These stretch all the way back to the mid-1990s, when I’d take to the hills armed only with enthusiasm, a vague route plan (usually courtesy of my Dad), and a basic ‘point and shoot’ film camera.
Summaries and trailers of these ‘vintage’ collections (beyond the very brief taster presented here) can be found in my main Archive page.
Castell y Gwynt, Glyder Fach
(Wales, May 1996)
Or if you’d prefer to access my archive galleries without the preamble, please check out the cunningly-titled Hills and History and Boat-Trips and Composites…
(Scotland, July 2001)
(Scotland, July 2001; photo by Nigel Mann)
(Scotland, July 2001; photo by Nigel Mann)
(Greenland, July 2011)
(Faroe Islands, July 2014)
(Iceland, July 2014)
Landscape Photography Blogs
For a catalogue of random reflections, please check out my Blog page.
My opening quartet of ‘wilderness’ blogs are illustrated feature-length affairs, which together celebrate my love of moor and mountain, myth and misadventure! These are trailed below…
Blog #1 - Camera on the Crags
My inaugural mountain photography blog, Camera on the Crags, considers the pros and cons of early film images shot on Scottish mountain walks (my own personal ”Golden Age”).
The narrative includes a smattering of alpine anecdotes and personal history, exploring the origins of my lifelong passion for wilderness (with the odd bit of silliness along the way!). ;-)
Image: Summit Ridge of Ben Cruachan (Scotland, March 2003; photo by Nigel Mann)
Blog #2 - The Ballad of Bellever Tor
My second blog of 2021, The Ballad of Bellever Tor, presents a tongue-in-cheek ”Ode to Dartmoor”, augmented by an illustrated study of ”The Power of Myth in the Landscape”.
The opening self-penned poem is part ghost story, part wordplay exercise, while my musings on mythology and landscape have been described as “a bit of a thesis”. That’s not necessarily an endorsement (on either count), so enter at your peril! ;-)
Image: “The Free-Fallin’ Phantom of Bellever Tor” (Dartmoor, August 2021)
Blog #3 - Shadow in the Tin
My third blog, Shadow in the Tin, is not really a blog at all: it’s a short story (complete with foreword)!
Both the story and its imagery have been rescued and adapted from my family archives, allowing a nostalgic return to Britain’s most dramatic mountain range.
As for the story itself… although rooted in a real-life ascent, I felt that a fictional account could better convey the true magic of mountain tops. This culminates in a moment of catharsis, the origins of which have been updated to (hopefully) resonate with those who have faced battles during the lockdown years.
Please read on to discover where this all takes place, and to grapple with a number of timeless conundrums (from the sublime to the ridiculous!)… ;-)
Image (spoiler alert!): Sgurr nan Gillean, Black Cuillin of Skye (Scotland, August 1995)
Blog #4 - The Curious Case of Rose and Laurie
To conclude my initial quartet of ‘wilderness’ blogs, The Curious Case of Rose and Laurie presents an illustrated account of the infamous Goatfell Murder which occurred in the mountains of Arran during Victorian times.
But was it really murder? I hope to draw on my own experience of treading these same peaks and ridges to explore the mystery of what actually happened all those years ago, viewing 19th century events and landscapes through a 21st century lens! :-0
Image: Shades of Rose and Laurie?
(Unknown climbers, Arran’s A’Chir Ridge; September 2018)
A Note on Website Design… and Contact
This website is hosted by Squarespace, which allows the customer (me!) to design the layout in accordance with available functionality and templates.
I’ve set this all up on my home laptop, from where my photos can be directly imported onto a reasonably large screen. As a result, my design favours what is known as Desktop View, meaning that this site is best viewed on a laptop or PC. However, I fully appreciate that mobile phone access is more convenient for many internet users, and thankfully Squarespace have this covered through conversion to Mobile View. Consequently, as I’ve developed this site, I’ve checked that the output can be successfully displayed on a mobile device. Please be aware, though, that some of the design subtleties - such as relative picture sizes, positioning of text or general spacing - are lost on a small mobile screen.
The bottom line is, I’m very grateful to anyone viewing this site, irrespective of your platform of choice. Welcome, and thank you for your interest!
For those who wish to contribute further, I’m always open to conversation, constructive feedback or ideas for improvement via my Contact page. :-)
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank my immediate family - my wife Karen and parents Meg and Nigel - for inspiring my love of the natural world and for sharing in many of the adventures recorded here.
I’m very conscious that pictures of family and friends are mostly omitted from these webpages, due to my thematic focus on scenery/wildlife and for reasons of privacy. Their absence is not because people shots are unimportant… quite the reverse!
Our trusty canine companions of recent years do make occasional appearances, thinly disguised as wildlife… love and hugs go to Mann’s best friends past and present, Abby, Ozzy, Moogie and Rocky! :-)
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