John Barben

John Barben is a photographer living and working in Cheltenham. He bought a second hand Russian camera in 1974 and now works in the genres of landscape, street and sports. He has several long-running projects underway including a collection of images of the lives of ordinary people and their built environment. John also works with agency Focus Images covering sports events. 

John uses both analogue and digital methods and processes his own negatives to provide consistency and values the creative physical and chemical process required to prepare the photographic artefact. He sees the constraints and level of chance as a part of the creative process. 

The work presented in this exhibition is mainly from an ongoing 10-year project in Westward Ho! - a village that is subject to substantial change both socially and geographically.