A LANDSCAPE for all seasons - and for all people - is how Patrick McCloskey might describe his stunning new photographic book, Park In the Sperrins, but for the hobby photographer who has spent 18 years capturing every mood, shadow and shade of his beloved mountains, each picture sings a thousand silent words just for him.
A retired teacher who spent his childhood "living up the side of a mountain" near the Co Derry village of Park, Patrick has now compiled the best from his photographic expeditions into a glossy hardback, zooming in on everything from vast, melancholy skies to a single autumn leaf.
The Sperrins are snapped in spring, summer, autumn and winter, each photo framed with a single-mindedness and peculiar type of passion, the photographer steadfastly ignoring all obstacles and hardships en route to the scene.
On one occasion he drove his new car into a snowy ditch and had to be pulled out by a bemused farmer on his tractor; on others he hiked through ice, lay prostrate on the cold ground or hung over rocks to secure an all-important angle.
Venturing out in all weathers, he often trekked in darkness - 'Moon at Sawel' depicts the stillness of an atmospheric inky night - or chanced a road less travelled by, discovering at its lonely end a murky pool forbidden in his childhood roamings ('Brian Ban's Hole').
In most of Patrick's hikes, while carrying heavy camera bag, tripod and supplies, he encountered few visitors - other, perhaps, than some inquisitive sheep as seen in the arresting blue-sky shot entitled, 'John McMenamin's Sheep, Gortscreagan Road'.
"I marvelled as a child at the darkness of Learmount Forest as well as the undulating contours and the indomitable Sawel that would become such a constant backdrop in my quest to celebrate the beauty of 'my place', he says.
"It is hard to explain the attachment people can feel to a place; it is a very strange thing.
"This book was just a labour of love for me, but I hope it helps puts the Sperrins on the map in the same way that the Mournes are on the map – we tend to forget about the Sperrins a little bit and they are so beautiful. You can walk in the mountains around Sawel for hours and meet absolutely nobody."
Now aged 64 and living in the countryside outside Derry, the pull of the Sperrins is as strong as it ever was.
"I still feel like I'm coming home, each time I visit this area," he says. "The ditches, the mountains - they were my childhood playground with my friend, Pius McCloskey - my friend and also a second cousin.
"My love of the landscape deepened as we immersed ourselves totally in our surroundings, succumbing to the enchantment and challenges of the river, the hills, the trees and the ditches. This was the most magical playground for two young boys to explore and we relished the freedom and sense of adventure."
A fascination with photography also began in childhood after he won a camera as first prize in a national story-writing competition - his story, unsurprisingly, centring around one of his adventures in the Sperrins.
"It was a true story, about how I jumped in a ditch one day, landed on a briar and a thorn had gone into my knee," he recounts. "It was always swelling up every so often and became a little bit septic, but I was never allowed off school or anything. It would give me a bit of bother but then one night, about three years later, I hit my knee against the big iron bed frame while getting into bed and the thorn just popped out.
"Anyway, that story got me my first camera when I was about 11 and I quickly became transfixed by the still image. I would buy Amateur Photography magazine from when I was about 12 and would read it constantly. I have been in a few photography clubs but I'm really self-taught."
Park in the Sperrins is "a simple book" with each photo exactly as it looks in nature.
"It's meant to be like that," he says. "I didn't use any software to enhance the images because, to me, that's cheating. I didn't want to tamper with what was in front of me.
"Ireland is 40 shades of green and 40 shades of grey so there are always plenty of natural colours to work with."
To emphasise the simplicity, his favourite photo is featured in a double page spread comprised purely of grass. "Just grass," he enthuses, "with the side light coming into it. It is fresh and new - full of new beginnings."
From grass to moss, rowan berries to sheep, waterfalls to ice, the images are evocative, timeless and soothing. "We need to allow our minds to develop a sense of awe and wonder at the sights we behold," concludes this most enthusiastic of Sperrins photographers.
"I hope I have captured the beauty of this place enough to prompt people out into the hills and valleys and to take time to stand and stare."
Park in the Sperrins is available (£20) from No Alibis, Belfast; Little Acorns, Derry; the Trek NI website, trekni.com; and via the Park in the Sperrins Instagram page.
