Ely Cathedral
In 1987, I visited Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire (England), but never saw the inside of this beautiful medieval jewel. I was there to photograph the visit of HRH the Princess of Wales, more commonly known as Princess Diana. It was a great day out though and I came away with many good pictures of Diana.
I visited once again in 1996 but only took a couple pictures; I was with family and didn’t have time to really photograph the cathedral.
But last month I finally made it back to Ely and was able to photograph the cathedral on my own for several hours. And even better, I was able to make my images using one of the best cameras available today– a medium format camera that produces very sharp, high quality, 102-megapixel images. I like to make very large pints for my customers and for gallery showings, and these are incredibly sharp; the level of detail has to be seen to be believed.
Ely was built over many years, from 1083 to 1375AD, with many alterations over the years. The Victorians are responsible for many of the painted ceilings and other additional decorative touches. Ely’s most well known feature is the lantern tower, rising 142 feet above the central crossing over the nave, which for an additional fee, you can climb up inside and peer down from onto the church below.
I made several images of the lantern, but for me, the best part was the light, which was so beautiful in the afternoon, with shafts of coloured sunlight spilling through stained glass windows and painting the stonework in bright, dappled colours.
Visitors to Ely tend to look heavenward the whole time they’re there– the ceilings are all brightly painted or beautifully decorated in many different styles. The side chapels are the most beautiful, with richly ornamented stone ceilings that must have taken teams of master craftsmen years to create.
Prints of all images are available. Please email for more details.
