...and the mystery photographer is...

Many of my favourite artists, writers and musicians tend to make eccentric choices. From the melancholic atmospheres of Caspar David Friedrich, to the tickling wordpsmithery of PG Wodehouse, via the outright gut laughter inspired by Jerome K Jerome and the veering imagination of Tom Waits, they are masters of their chosen arts. As far as photographers go, other people will know far more than I do but you would have to dig really rather deep to come up with a photographer whose work would captivate my attention, and have me poring over every minute detail, more than that of a comparatively little-known German called Hans Göhler.

Göhler – or John Gay, as he anglicised his name after fleeing to England with Jewish friends in the 1930s – showed a wonderful blend of technical mastery, flair, vision, empathy, humour, imagination, individuality and, above all, understanding in every image he captured. Judging from the tremendous book of photographs I have in front of me, whether adults, children, animals, rural scenes, railway stations or even cast iron were his subject, Göhler demonstrated that he could set up a scene with playfulness and skill, or disappear into the background with equal ease; his understanding of types of light allowed him to create atmospheric photographs in all conditions, while his ability to capture multiple significant details in the same image – a vision he demonstrated time and again – is something that all photographers, at all levels, could learn from. I could, of course, gush on all day about the output of this wonderful photographer, but to do so would a) do a massive injustice to his work and b) bore you to tears. Here, then, are some examples to set you on your way. Enjoy Hans Göhler in what would have been his 100th year.












I think you'll agree. Superb. He will influence my work for years and years to come.

(Photographs appear courtesy of English Heritage)