Simon Bray

A YEAR IN FLOWERS: This year I’m capturing the life and changes @stemandgreen flower farm, I was back this week for chapter 4 April: Spring is in full swing, the buzz of bees, blossom, thickening hedges, knee high grass & flowers. For the farm, April marks the high point of spring, marked by an abundance of tulips, narcissi and ranunculus, the real stars of the month. April also sees a big push to get summer planted, thousands of seedlings braving it outside ready for midsummer colour. The field is filling, greening up, showing the great promise of what’s to come next…

We're delighted to welcome photographer Simon Bray as our Artist Keynote speaker - his talk is entitled "Searching Beneath the Silence: Art as an Act of Prayer." Register to join us! .uk/beauty-and-faith-part-two/registration/

A YEAR IN FLOWERS: this year I’m capturing the life and changes @stemandgreen flower farm, I was back this week for chapter 3 March: ‘Fools Spring’ kicked off the month with unseasonably balmy temperatures. A welcome delight for the bees who enjoyed warm juicy nectar. It also brought on the flowers, waking up from their winter slumber with a burst of life. For the Flower Farm, March is the start of business, slowly edging back into supplying freshly grown flowers, a routine that will now last till late October. It’s the start of a busy season and an ever changing and evolving landscape, which by next month should be bursting with even more life.

A YEAR IN FLOWERS: this year I’m capturing the life and changes @stemandgreen flower farm, I was back this week for chapter two. February: It’s been the second wettest winter on record, everything is wet and soggy. The decay of winter is still evident, last years stalks standing as an echo of summer. But breaking out tentatively are the first signs of spring, the signs of renewal. The morning birdsong, fleshy buds in the hedges, fresh growth on the Delphiniums, Narcissi breaking free. For the farm, new life is mostly in the shelter of the tunnels, fragile seedlings waiting their turn, Anemones striding towards their big moment. Spring is about to burst, the harsh dormancy of winter is nearly over, the soil has had its rest, now time for new life.

A YEAR IN FLOWERS: Throughout 2026 I’ll be documenting the changing seasons at @stemandgreen flower farm in Winchester. Capturing ebb and flow as winter passes into spring, then to summer, autumn and back to winter. The delicate new life of spring, the heady glut of summer and the slow decay of late autumn. The pastels of spring moving to the hot brights of summer, through to the umbers of October. January: Cold, harsh and stark. The only life is within the shelter of the polytunnels, little seedlings of potential waiting for their moment later this year. The field is bare, be it for the skeletons of faded plants, left for the birds and give the soil structure. It’s a rare moment of calm, all asleep before the awakening of spring.

30th December 2025 Each year on this date I mark the passing of my dad by going out to take pictures. Wherever I am in the world I take my camera, with no visual objective, just an inclination to engage with nature and trust my instincts. This year we were at home, so these pictures are made on the local nature reserve, with the puppy in tow.

✨ In case you missed it… meet our Artist in Residence ✨ We’re delighted to welcome @simonbray , an award-winning photographer, as the first artist to undertake a PhD residency at One Horton Heath 📸 Delivered through a partnership between @eastleighbc and the @uni_southampton and @johnhansardgallery , Simon’s residency will explore creativity, place and community as the new neighbourhood grows. His work will involve working with residents through photography workshops and creative research over the coming years. ☝️Read more about Simon using the news link in the bio #onehortonheath #publicart #artistinresidence #Community #PlaceMaking

Searching Beneath The Silence - New Book Dummy Now that the kids are back to school I’ve had some time in the studio and have put together this book dummy of a selection of the church images made as part of my project ‘Searching Beneath The Silence’. Previously the work has incorporated a broader selection of subject matters, but I wanted to experiment with presenting just the images made within the church spaces, taken all across the UK, and in doing so allowing me to present images which haven’t previously been included in the project’s various prior presentations. The pages are printed as Japanese/French Fold, cased with triple layered card covers and a leatherette spine, all hand constructed at @southernbookcraftsclub If you’d like to see a PDF of the whole dummy, just drop me a message.

Thanks for all the love for my latest book dummy. Here’s a few more spreads… ‘The Child Is The Father of the Man’ - Handmade Photobook Dummy ‘The Child Is The Father of the Man’ originates from the poem “My Heart Leaps Up” by William Wordsworth, an expression of hope that he might retain the joys of youth. I made this series of photographs in the year or so after moving back to my hometown of Winchester after over 15 years away, chronicling the spaces in which I spent my childhood, in which I now invite my own children. The images consider the idea that we are all a product of the habits and behaviours that we establish in our youth and through various ‘chapters’, explores the notions of origin, permanence, fatherhood and returning. I constructed the book at the end of last year at the culmination of my introductory course in bookbinding and was so pleased to be able to develop the project from start to finish, resulting in this one off dummy. - Covers - Casebound wrapped in Cream Linen with Silk-printed Tip In - Paper - Munken Print Cream 70gsm - End Papers - G.F. Smith Colourplan Harvest 350gsm Stucco Hammered - Binding - Hand-glued French Fold - Digitaly Printed at Sarsen Press, Winchester - Hand bound at Southern Bookcrafts @southernbookcraftsclub You can see the full selection of spreads from the book on my website.

‘The Child Is The Father of the Man’ - Handmade Photobook Dummy ‘The Child Is The Father of the Man’ originates from the poem “My Heart Leaps Up” by William Wordsworth, an expression of hope that he might retain the joys of youth. I made this series of photographs in the year or so after moving back to my hometown of Winchester after over 15 years away, chronicling the spaces in which I spent my childhood, in which I now invite my own children. The images consider the idea that we are all a product of the habits and behaviours that we establish in our youth and through various ‘chapters’, explores the notions of origin, permanence, fatherhood and returning. I constructed the book at the end of last year at the culmination of my introductory course in bookbinding and was so pleased to be able to develop the project from start to finish, resulting in this one off dummy. - Covers - Casebound wrapped in Cream Linen with Silk-printed Tip In - Paper - Munken Print Cream 70gsm - End Papers - G.F. Smith Colourplan Harvest 350gsm Stucco Hammered - Binding - Hand-glued French Fold - Digitaly Printed at Sarsen Press, Winchester - Hand bound at Southern Bookcrafts @southernbookcraftsclub You can see the full selection of spreads from the book on my website.

Searching Beneath The Silence no.17 Stockport, Cheshire (2020) 252mm x 203mm Unglazed The frames for these artworks are all reclaimed and were specifically selected to compliment each print, meaning each artwork is entirely unique. Artworks also available to purchase as an unframed Fine Art Giclee Print on Hahnemuhle Photorag Paper inthree sizes: 12” x 8” / 18” x 12” / 24” x 16” Link in bio.

Searching Beneath The Silence no.13 Stockport, Cheshire (2021) 630mm x 490mm Glazed The frames for these artworks are all reclaimed and were specifically selected to compliment each print, meaning each artwork is entirely unique. Artworks also available to purchase as an unframed Fine Art Giclee Print on Hahnemuhle Photorag Paper inthree sizes: 12” x 8” / 18” x 12” / 24” x 16” Link in bio.