The Winds of Change - Nicola Morley ARPS

Nicola Morley ARPS holds a Photography Arts MA from the University of Westminster and a Post Graduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Central Lancashire. She worked as a broadcast journalist and producer at BBC Radio Cumbria and BBC Radio Lancashire. Nicola was shortlisted for the British Journal of Photography’s ‘Portrait of Britain’. She photographed Fiona Bruce, Member of Parliament for Congleton, for the 209 Women project, which is currently on display at Liverpool’s Open Eye Gallery. Nicola joined The Royal Photographic Society in 2018, is a member of the Documentary Special Interest Group, and treasurer of the Women in Photography Special Interest Group.

The Housekeeper. Mrs C and her husband have been on the estate for 30 years. She is the housekeeper for the landlord and is seen here clearing his breakfast. Her husband was the gardener before he retired. Their daughter lives on the estate. She is a psychiatric nurse.

Nicola Morley ARPS

The Winds of Change

The Winds of Change is a project about time, identity and place. It is an aperture into a traditional country estate in the north of England. The large estate has continued down the same bloodline since the Middle Ages. Some of the tenant families have been on the estate since the mid 1800’s. In recent years, a scattering of cottages have been renovated for newcomers who do not farm. The current landlord is old. He has seven children. The whole estate will be inherited by his son, following family custom.

The Winds of Change happened on the back of a project about horses. I went to the main house to take some pictures of the horses, but the wind was too high and it was impossible to do the shoot. Instead Cosi asked me to take a photograph of her with her dog. ‘Cosi in the Music Room with Bat’, was shortlisted for the Portrait of Britain 2018. After I took the picture, Cosi asked me if I would document the estate so that she could make a surprise book for the family.

We had envisaged the project would take a year, but things don’t always go as planned. I visited 12 times last year and I am only just beginning to get a real feel for the place. There are many people I have already photographed that I would like to photograph again in different circumstances. For example, I want to take an image of the Monsignor, who lives in a cottage on the estate, in his vestments. They are very old, and very beautiful, as is he.

There are still quite a few people I haven’t photographed. There is also the landscape, which is magnificently raw in all weathers, and I want to capture it. The families are all very accommodating and we have a lot of fun during the shoots. I was taking an image of a tenant farmer, his wife and their six children, placing them so they could all be seen, when the farmer reappeared, unexpectedly, with an enormous, very strong and feisty cow! So, then I had six children, two adults, and a cow that thought it was a bull, to contend with. In fact, it was meeting the cow that made me decide to move from London, back to my hometown, in October this year, so I could be nearer to the work. I loved that cow.

Curiously, there doesn’t seem to be a rush to finish the project. As the estate has been working since the Middle Ages, there’s a strong sense of permanence. Of course, the whole point of the project is that things will change. I have called the project The Winds of Change because even though the estate has remained in the same family for generations, there is an uncertainty in the air. I know I’m contradicting myself here. There are no easy answers.

209 Women

The image of Fiona Bruce MP, in 209 Women, came about by speaking with the organiser, Hilary Wood, and the curator, Cheryl Newman who I knew from university. I was keen to be involved in such a great initiative.

There was no opportunity to discuss the shoot with Fiona beforehand. Her office emailed me with a time and date, and I left London at 6am on the morning of the shoot. After meeting Fiona in a library following her MP’s surgery, we went over the road to the church in Middlewich. The weather was atrocious! I set up the shoot while Fiona remained wrapped in her coat. She took off her coat and I very quickly took the image.

As a photographer, I am a member of several supportive networks, including the Society. I go to as many talks and galleries as I can, and I get feedback on my work at portfolio reviews. I would love to have a dedicated mentor!

www.nicolamorley.com

Visiting Day. Mr S has been a tenant farmer on the estate for over 50 years. His son, his daughter and his grandchildren work two cattle farms on the estate. On the day I took this image, Mr S had visited his wife in hospital.

Nicola Morley ARPS

Boy and Rottweiler. Charlie who trained his Rottweiler, Dexter.

Nicola Morley ARPS

Easter Egg Hunt. Every year on Easter Sunday the children of the tenant farmers are invited to an Easter egg hunt at the main house. After they have divided their spoils, they have high tea in the nursery.

Nicola Morley ARPS

The Grandmother. The grandmother comes from generations of the estate’s tenant farmers whose main livelihood continues to come from the land. She looks after the horses. She is a part-time nurse.

Nicola Morley ARPS

The Clay Shooting Cup. The lad in this image comes from a long line of tenant farmers and many of his relations live on the estate. He won this Junior Shooting Cup the week I took this image.

Nicola Morley ARPS

Fred and his Truck. Fred is a third generation tenant farmer. He can help a ewe to give birth to a lamb as if putting on a glove.

Nicola Morley ARPS

The Sisters with their Pony. The family of these girls have farmed on the estate since the mid 1800’s. Despite other opportunities, the eldest has decided to remain near her family.

Nicola Morley ARPS