This collection is a companion to my 2024 project, Fenland: Photographs From The Marshes.

These photographs were taken alongside my study of The Fens more widely, often on the same day. This is because I would treat Holme Fen as a palette cleanser and recharge point from hours spent on the road, trying to capture openness. It allowed me to practice my work in colour and also sharpen my skills in woodland photography, which I have long admired.

Holme Fen is an exception to The Fen’s typically sparse landscape. Once a lake and now drained, it is a thriving woodland that claims the lowest point in Great Britain, at 2.75m below sea level. It also holds a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status, on account of the highly diverse and abundant flora, fauna and fungi. It is a compelling fact sheet that nevertheless comes short of explaining what makes Holme Fen truly special to me.

I found The Fens compelling to photograph throughout the year because they see little change, other than the rotation of low-to-the-ground crops. Holme Fen could not be more different. Visiting throughout the year, I have seen the frosts of winter crisp over the fallen orange undergrowth, felt the humidity of the early spring thaw and the heat captured under the replenishing canopy, through to the vibrancy of summer, and back again.

Little visited, I have spent mornings completely alone save the occasional deer, fox or owl. I have tracked woodpeckers through the brush, unsuccessfully as far as photography is concerned, and sat watching water birds on the hidden lakes. I have spent hours, purposefully slowed by using my tripod, lining up compositions and trying to pull order from the woodland mass.

The woodland, webbed with thin trackways made by man and animal, was once a maze to me. I now know it is like my very own neighbourhood. It’s been a place where I have found solace and peace. Not only a welcome break after shooting The Fens, it was where I went after finding out I was losing my job and it was the last place I visited with my camera before heading to Scotland.

The photographs in this collection were not intended as a project. They are instead the result of the pull Holme Fen has over me and photographic trial and error.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

William Austin-Lobley