A clinical eye for a good photograph
A former Sheffield surgeon is enjoying success away from the operating table - as he launches a book of Peak District photography and an exhibition at Chatsworth House.
IT DEFINITELY wasn't a decision Graham Dunn took lightly.
After five years in medical school, and a further seven working his way up the profession to become a respected ear, nose and throat surgeon, he decided to quit his career in medicine to focus on photography.
The 35-year-old put the years of studying at Edinburgh University behind him, along with the following six he spent in the Scottish capital following graduation.
It was a year after his move to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield that he began to reassess his career and what the future might hold for him.
"I was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the whole package," he said.
"I enjoyed the nitty gritty bits on the operating table but the whole package of life in a hospital was changing.
"With the arrival of a young family my priorities were also changing and something needed to give. After lots of agonising I eventually decided it was the job."
Photography had always been an interest of Graham's and he said it was this hobby which he decided to pursue into a second career.
The dad of three boys – Luke, five, Max, two, and Toby, four months – said: "Whenever we were on holidays or out and about I'd always be taking pictures of people and the places.
"It had been in the back of my mind that it could be something to get further into. I started speaking to people about it and hearing all the right noises, words of encouragement, and I slowly developed it, excuse the pun, into a career."
Graham is largely self-taught, through the age-old method of trial and error. He has undergone occasional one-off courses in specific specialisms, but the overall process has been one of learning as he goes.
Work started to come in for him in three main areas – portraits and the occasional wedding, and landscapes and floral pictures which have been used in everything from prints and cards to magazine publications and online libraries of stock pictures.
But it was always the landscape element that stuck out as the area he wanted to progress with – particularly taking pictures of the Peak District.
Now that passion has been brought to life in a collection of photographs compiled in a book designed to take the reader on an artistic journey through the area.
To coincide with the release of the book on July 1, he is also set to showcase an exhibition at Chatsworth House.
Graham, who lives in Fulwood, Sheffield, said: "It's great having the Peak District on the doorstep.
"It's not necessarily the easiest place to photograph in the world, but it's got such a great variety, there's a bit of everything in there and a lot of it is very accessible which is great.
"I've been building a collection for about three years, and about two-and-a-half years ago I decided a book would be an exciting project and it's evolved from there.
"It's meant to be a fine art photographic book and a visual guide to the Peak District, rather than a text guide which there are lots of. It takes the reader on a journey through the area, with images accompanied by a small amount of writing with some interesting information. People can follow it through – though they may not necessarily linked by roads, there is a map instructing the way.
"I have tried to capture the well known scenes, but in a new light or a slightly different angle, as well as some of the lesser known spots. In terms of my favourite parts, I think that would probably be somewhere up high like Kinder Scout – you feel like you've escaped, you're miles from anywhere, and you get some wonderful views."
Split down into the Northern Peak, the Eastern Peak, the White Peak and the South Western Peak, the book has taken a lot of time and effort to capture each spot in the perfect light.
"It's been very weather dependent," Graham said, "I've been trying to get the places at their most dramatic so have just had to keep going until the conditions were right. There's been a lot of early mornings and late nights out there!"
Despite the cold mornings and late nights, Graham said he has no regrets about his drastic career change.
"I love being self-employed," he said, "I love the creativity and the freedom of photography. I hope that the book and the exhibition will open up some more opportunities to develop my passion and specialise in landscape work."
n The book, which features a foreword from the Duke of Devonshire, is released on July 1. The accompanying exhibition will be on show in the Cavendish Rooms and Carriage House restaurant at Chatsworth throughout July and August.
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Weather for Sheffield
Friday 25 May 2012
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