Whilst this is an urban themed edition, our journey here begins far away from any concreted town or city. In fact, much like those who first took the plunge to start a new life in the growing urban areas at the start of the Industrial Revolution, our adventure into this month’s edition starts in a rural setting, which in this case is the vast mountainous land known as the Lake District. A national park located in the north-west of England, renowned for its hiking trails, picturesque villages and – you’ve guessed it – lakes, it’s a place that millions of people from across the United Kingdom and Europe flock to every year in search of a holiday.
This was also where Paul grew up, though, unlike the tourists who visit this area, he began to feel increasingly unsettled. Much like his parents, his father being an artist and his mother a pianist, Paul too felt almost inherently drawn to art and soon turned to paint to express his thoughts and feelings. ‘My parents have told me though as a young child I painted pictures using only black paint and were concerned that I was perhaps psychologically disturbed!’ he funnily explains (though it is interesting to note here that such themes, particularly that of capturing seemingly disturbing scenes in black and white, can be viewed in his later photography). By the time he turned thirteen however, painting as a form of escapism no longer quite cut it, he needed to do the real thing and so decided to embark upon a journey that would arguably shape his entire artistic career – especially when he found himself almost starving to death at the base of Mount Blanc.
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