“At the 2023 Festival, photographer Paul Chambers decided to put down his digital cameras and use a centuries-old technique to take 50 portraits of 50 beautiful humans to represent 50 years of Greenbelt. The result is a gallery of portraits unlike any other the festival has seen before.”
- Paul Northup, Creative Director of the Greenbelt Festival.
Paul had been photographing at the festival for a number of years but wanted to mark the 50th Greenbelt by doing something different; both pioneering and unique and in keeping with the spirit and DNA of the festival itself. So, after a number of conversations with Paul Northrop (Festival Creative Director) and Daisy Ghira (Festival Digital Comms), he replaced his DSLR’s with an old wooden Vageeswari 10x12 field camera and the TIFF’s and JPEG’s with aluminium tintypes.
Those who sat for these portraits reflect the diverse demographic and inclusivity of this scared and beautiful community. From folk who were at the first festival to those experiencing it for the first time, some familiar faces to those who quietly, without any limelight, make the festival shine as it does.
This switch didn’t make things easier; quite the opposite, but the demanding process resulted in some of the most inspired portraits from the festival.
The capturing of alchemy, first by Mark Kensett.
And then by Ali Jones.
