Originally from Northern England, Alan Norsworthy has been a photographer since the late 1960's.

He moved to Canada in 1973 and has made Guelph Ontario his home for the last 24 years.

" I remember visiting the CN Tower in the early 70's and the guide said that as far as you could see in any direction is the best farmland in Canada. That comment echoes down the years as I watch subdivisions eat up the landscape."

The area around Guelph offers up a plethora of rural images which Alan captures with his artistic vision. His work covers everything from macro photographs of flowers, sweeping landscapes, historic buildings and old abandoned farms in both colour and Black and White.

"This is where I find my inspiration, I have a need to show people the beauty I see as I walk the woods and fields of Southern Ontario"


Sunday, September 25, 2011

Horse in the Mist


Horse in the Mist
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy


I don't know what it is about horses and foggy mornings. There is a kind of magic in the air whenever I see them.

This particular morning the magic was strong magic,overpoweringly so. When I saw this scene through the viewfinder something clicked, not only in my camera but in my minds eye.

The real scene was considerably more dull and well, foggy, but my imagination saw a dreamscape instead of a landscape. Working with the image later, at home the illusion began to take shape and this is the result.

This is far and away from my usual workflow which is usually confined to a few clicks of the mouse to bring out the details. This time I was on a totally different path trying to pull out the surreal.

Horses and fog will do that too you, throw in a woodland setting and your in trouble :-)

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see. ~Henry David Thoreau

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Closer, Closer


Closer, Closer
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy


It's funny how someone you have never met can become a friend and for someone you haven't seen in about 50 years remembers you as a friend.
Mike and Chris are such people.

Chris I knew as a kid growing up in England, she was a friend of my sisters. A year or so ago Chris found me via the internet. Since then her husband Mike and I have kept in touch through the common bond of photography.

This last month they came to Canada to visit Chris's relatives in Eastern Canada and took the time to travel to Ontario to see me. Well me and Niagara Falls ;-)

I enjoyed their company for a day at The Falls before they had to fly home. I spent the day  talking of old times with Chris and new times with Mike, a long day but a grand day.


Haste ye back guys ...



No road is long with good company. ~Turkish Proverb

Monday, September 12, 2011

Elmira Barn and the traveller


Elmira Barn
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy


Early Sunday morning I visited a few local barns that I had had my eye on. The light was right so I ventured out.
This was the last of three and close to home.

As usual I parked off the edge of the road with my hazard lights flashing and wandered off the make this image. When I got back to the car and was putting my camera gear away a car, traveling in the other direction, stopped. The occupant, a young man asked if everything was alright. I smiled and said thanks and told him I was just taking photographs. His reply was
"well that's good I am never too busy to stop and offer help if it's needed"

That made my day, how long has it been since someone has done that for you?
Or more importantly how long has it been since you did that for someone else?

How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
~William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice,

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Newfoundland - The reason I went back.


Newfoundland - The reason I went back.
Originally uploaded by Alan Norsworthy


Well the real reason I went back was because my wife said I should. She could not get time off work but insisted I go alone, because she knew I wanted too. Go back that is but not necessarily alone.
She understands me better than I understand myself. I guess she saw my disappointment, although I tried to hide it and thought I had, when we visited in June. In a whirlwind of a few days the decision was made, the flight booked and I was on my way.

I was going seeking Icebergs, what I found, was me.

There are days when solitude is a heady wine that intoxicates you with freedom, others when it is a bitter tonic, and still others when it is a poison that makes you beat your head against the wall. ~Colette