Le Marche, Italy
Who would have thought that a friendship might endure for thirty-five years without those chums meeting, or hearing, of each other at all?
And how strange that each, in his own unique way, has trodden a similar path.
Michael Eldridge is a remarkable artist, both on canvas, for like many good photographers he paints, and also as a highly attuned lens-man. Now living in the mystical Sibillini Mountains of Le Marche, Italy, he was an art teacher in Dorset, U.K. when Stephen Bray first encountered him.
Like Eldridge, Bray now lives the secluded life of an ex-patriot. His choice is a small peninsula of Turkey, just a few miles north of Rhodes. There he makes photographic images using the skills first imparted to him by Eldridge half a lifetime before.
Although people rarely appear in their images both men share an enthusiasm for others. Eldridge is a driving force within the ‘Tiger Eagles Coaching Group‘, and teaches Creativity Workshops, both in Italy and other countries.
Bray taught a generations of psychotherapists, including doctors and psychologists, both in the U.K. and Turkey, and continues to provide support and supervision for many.
Strictly speaking there are three elements to each image from these photographers. There is the sky, of course, which changes but like any personality remains the same individual. Then there are the trees, growing daily and, like all living things, subject to finite lives that witness both virtue and hardship.
The third element is you, the viewer. Eldridge and Bray invite you to make what you will find here at treesandsky.me
Stephen Bray and Michael Eldridge