Get Featured: Jack Luke
Jack shares with us his Degree show project. Timeless and thoughtful landscapes all captured on stunning large format film. Check it out.

My name is Jack Luke and I’m a Scottish landscape photographer and recent graduate of the University of Edinburgh.
I’m generally interested in industrial dereliction and the ways in which we re-appropriate post-industrial landscapes, both socially and environmentally.

I recently completed my long term project, The Bings. The project is a study of a set of enormous spoil heaps from the once globally important shale mining industry. Located on the outskirts of Edinburgh, the Broxburn bings are the most prominent landmark of the West Lothian region and a monumental symbol of Scottish industry.

Untitled (From the series, The Bings)

The unintentionally beautiful, sculpted slopes of the bings are slowly being reclaimed by birch woodland and grassy meadows; in places, almost completely obscuring the industrial origins of the land they lie upon.

Untitled (From the series, The Bings)

The bings are also at the core of the vibrant, central-belt motocross scene. The faces of the tips are relentlessly altered by their tracks with each passing weekend.

Jack_Luke_The_Bings_05

The project began with a much more social-documentary focus, looking at the community of motocross riders and others who used the bings. However, over time the project evolved into a more of a landscape study and as such my approach to making images changed.

Untitled (From the series, The Bings)

Selling my faithful Fuji GX680 to fund my beautiful ARCA Swiss, Model B was the wisest decision I’ve made as a photographer. Not only does the ARCA afford me the resolution I require for my prints, but the handling is second to none. The movements are all sensually smooth and the camera just begs to be used.

Untitled (From the series, The Bings)

The project is presented as a set, up to a number of 10, 24×19″ prints mounted in bespoke oak frames. Made with my dad, the frames really enhance the presence of the work in a room which was important as my landscapes were pretty far removed from some of the more conceptual pieces shown at my degree show!

Untitled (From the series, The Bings)

I also produced a small book to accompany the work in collaboration with the Scot’s poet, Alistair Findlay. Alistairs poems, written in response to my images of the bings follow on from his study of the social history of the shale minding industry, Shale Voices. (Luath Press, 2010.)

Jack Luke, http://www.JackLuke.co.uk

Thanks for sharing your work with us Jack. The quality of large format cannot be beaten. It takes a great deal of dedication to carry one up there and spend the time shooting.

Come on, share with us what you have and get yourself featured.
Click on this link and send in your project/work: Get Featured. *I am looking for mainly projects, not individual images*
Oh, and click here to see a few of the photographers that have been on the site before https://www.japancamerahunter.com/?s=featured

Please make sure you come and comment. Polite and constructive critique is welcome, offensive and disrespectful comments will be removed.
Thanks
JCH