Wendy Stone is a lifelong photographer who returned to darkroom work in 2018. Shocked at the price of new cameras, and horrified at the mountains of electronic waste we now discard, she turned to the collection of older film and plate cameras she had put to one side, waiting for 'one day'. She restored and now uses her unique fleet of vintage and antique photographic equipment.
Her work in Oxford celebrates and maintains the craft and skills of 19th and 20th century photographers, as well as her own family’s photographic history. Her work is a constant exploration of composition and structure. The restraint of the black and white photographic palette means she builds her images around line, texture, shape and depth.
These scenes were captured on 60mm film using a 1968 Rolleicord medium format camera. The film was developed, using wet chemistry, to create a ribbon of reversed back and white 'negatives'. A darkroom enlarger projected the reversed images onto silver halide paper to make positive prints, which were developed, and fixed in chemical baths
Decisions are made at every step in these complex optical and chemical processes which means these images do not have digital equivalents. Her older cameras and uncoated lenses, although challenging to use, capture light differently and the special chemistry of silver salts on film and paper creates images with authenticity that has become rare. Her cameras and darkroom create black and white images of places and people that are at once both modern and timeless.
‘Bikes, Bridges and Boats’ is a series of darkroom prints from photographs mostly made around Folly Bridge, featuring nearby places as well as other Thames crossings. Wendy's studio looks out over this historic section of the River Thames. This is the site of the original ‘Oxen-ford’ that named the city, the start point for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the ‘Head of the River’ for many generations of rowers and the home of Salters Steamers.
Wendy’s daily bicycle journeys take her over the city's many bridges, and her boat trips up and down the river take her under many more. Bridges, boats and bicycles define the city and provide her with endless photographic inspiration, along with the occasional challenge; moving boats and busy bridges are rarely easy places to use a camera!
‘Bikes, Boats and Bridges’ will be on display at the Paper Boat Cafe from September 23 to November 11 2025. Seek out this gem of a cafe, nestled beside Folly Bridge, enjoy excellent cake and coffee and see the river Thames through a different lens.
