Leeds through their eyes: Chris aka I <3 Minox

It's not very often that I share others peoples photos on here, but every so often I stumble upon something so inspiring and exciting, something I just can't stop looking at, that I just have to share it on here with everyone.

So today I am featuring some of the most amazing film photos of Leeds that I've seen in a long time, taken by Chris Wrightaka I ♥ Minox on Flickr. As well as capturing the beauty of Leeds architecture, Chris also captures the people of Leeds with his Olympus OM cameras and black and white Ilford film producing stark yet emotive photos.

I love living in Leeds and I often think that I should explore the city further and take more photos. Chris's photos remind me that actually, you don't have to go far to find amazing photos, in fact they are right underneath your nose and sometimes you just need a fresh pair of eyes to remind you.

If you have time, definitely check out more of Chris's photos on his Flickr photostream, you will not be disappointed.

~ All photos taken by Chris Wright and used with his permission, so please do not reuse them. ~

Fountains Abbey Part I

It's no secret that I have a love for photographing abbeys - Kirkstall, Bolton and Whitby Abbey are some that I've shared so far on here. So I was incredibly excited about visiting Fountains Abbey.

Like Kirkstall Abbey, Fountains Abbey is a Cistercian abbey - in fact Fountains Abbey is the mother ship abbey of Kirkstall, with Kirkstall being the 5th daughter house abbey to come from the estate, something I didn't actually realise before we visited...

Every time I go around these abbeys I can't help but think how sad it is that Henry 8th had all the monasteries pulled down in the 1500's during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Although it is great that they are all so well preserved now and fascinating tourist attractions, I still can't help but picture how beautiful they must have looked in their prime and also how striking they could still look now.

Location: Fountains Abbey, England
Camera: Zenit B
Film: Fuji Superia 400

Fountains Hall

First, I apologise now for the overload of photos, but I got a little carried away taking photos of this beautiful building.

These photos are a mixture of LC-A and Zenit-B photos, you can really see the difference a light meter makes I think and also the effect that over exposing has on the Lomography 400 iso film - again some of the photos have a distinctively orange tinge to them but even sat next to the auto exposed LC-A photos, I still really like them.  You can also really see the texture that the Zenit B gives photos when you compare the two cameras, I still haven't figured out exactly what does this but I think its the shutter fabric...

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Is it weird that this building took my breath away a little? I think this photo above really captures how grand and striking it looked in the sunshine.

Fountains Hall dates from around 1600 and is built partly with stone from the Abbey ruins. Although only a couple of rooms were open to the public, it was definitely worth a look around.

Location: Fountains Hall, England
Cameras: Zenit B & Refurb LC-A
Film: Lomo 400 & Agfa Vista 200