Jonathan Chritchley: Serene Black-and-White Seascapes in Fine Art Photography

Jonathan Chritchley was born in London, England, around 1968. He became interested in the sea after moving to Lymington on England’s south coast at age 14. He worked in marketing before switching to full-time photography around 1998. He has been based in the South of France since then, with a career spanning over 25 years. Key milestones include founding Capture Earth and Ocean Capture for workshops, and publishing the book SILVER in 2014. Visual traits feature black-and-white tones with soft greys and minimal compositions that evoke calm.

Primary Genres: Fine Art, Landscape, Other (Seascape and Equine Photography).
Primary Photography Style: Minimalism (black-and-white images with simple elements for serene impact); Textural (focusing on details like waves or manes to add contemplative depth).
Key Message: Chritchley focuses on the sea’s grandeur and horses’ elegance to inspire reflection. He uses light and shadow in minimal setups to highlight natural forces and create a sense of peace.

Chritchley’s common subjects include oceans, boats, sails, and horses in coastal or open settings, where he emphasises textures such as rippling water, flowing manes, or misty hulls. His aesthetic relies on black-and-white for purity, with high contrast between light and shadow to draw out serene power without clutter. Techniques centre on digital cameras for flexibility, paired with long exposures using neutral density filters to smooth motion, like turning waves into silky surfaces. He prefers natural lighting from dawn or overcast skies to avoid harshness, capturing the scene’s breath. Editing involves digital adjustments to boost contrast and enrich blacks while lifting whites, resulting in an ethereal look. Presentation includes large matte prints for galleries, books like SILVER, and commercial uses in luxury brands.

For intermediate photographers, Chritchley’s monochrome style teaches the shift from colour to black-and-white, similar to how film photographers used the zone system for tonal control, but with digital tools for precise post-processing. Digital allows quick previews and adjustments via software, unlike film’s development wait, enabling experimentation with long exposures (e.g., 10 seconds or more) to abstract movement. Learners can apply this by using ND filters to extend shutter speeds, creating calm from chaos, and converting images to greyscale to focus on composition and texture over colour.

His work highlights patience in subject interaction, waiting for natural elements like wind or light to align, which adds storytelling through implied motion. This approach blends fine art with landscape, showing how minimalism can elevate everyday scenes into contemplative pieces.

Accolades:
- Named in Sunday Times “Top 100 Photographers of All Time” (2014).
- Included in Professional Photographer Magazine “100 Most Influential Photographers” (2014).
- Works held in international private collections.
- Regularly featured in fine art exhibitions worldwide.

Trivia:
- Learned to sail as a boy on England’s south coast, influencing his ocean work.
- Founded Capture Earth and Ocean Capture for global photography workshops.
- Supports ocean conservation through his imagery and activities
- Lives in the Bay of Saint-Tropez with his family, drawing inspiration from the Mediterranean.

Lessons from this Photographer:

His unique minimalism teaches photographers to strip away distractions, focusing on light and texture for emotional impact. Intermediate users can adopt his long-exposure technique with ND filters to transform dynamic scenes into serene ones, encouraging a mindset of patience over rushed shots. This process inspires deeper craft appreciation by blending digital editing for contrast with natural storytelling, urging experimentation in black-and-white to reveal hidden narratives in landscapes.