Stuart Royse is widely known as a hugely successful commercial photographer, highly sought after for fashion shoots and even being asked to photograph the “back room boys” at Manchester United Football Club. Royse’s artwork has also received great critical acclaim, and LiKailin is proud to represent his “Flooded Woodland” project. You can view this series by clicking the image above.

“Flooded Woodland” comprises a series of 14 photographic works that explore a woodland area on the edge of a Peak District reservoir - & looks closely at the seasonal changes over a year-long period. Each of the images in the series has actually been made up of 15 separate frames, shot in a 180 degree arc and then manually and painstakingly 'stitched' to form a “flat” wide-screen view. The resultant images have an almost supernatural quality, like a wooded fairyland where the strange twists of light and perspective magically entrance the viewer. 

As an unpredictable twist, the vegetation is susceptible to the extremes of flooding and drought: the reservoir is primarily used to keep the canal system replenished & so the water level can rise or fall unpredictably in a short space of time. The fourteen images show the visual transformation throughout the seasons and highlight just how different the same place can appear when viewed over an extended period of time. When seen as a series, the viewer can appreciate all the subtle changes & natural regeneration throughout the cycle of a year.  A fifteenth work records the fact that, one year after the project was finished, a storm caused one of the Alder trees to fall.  Caught by two other trunks, it remained curiously suspended, testament to the fact that every natural environment is constantly changing and regenerating.

Available in the three sizes, the largest being almost 3m in length, these works are truly spell-binding.

Other works from Stuart Royse’s portfolio are also available on request.