The evening of 2nd June 2025 saw David Simper catch the service 61 bus to the Tea Amantes cafe and gallery to catch this exhibition of fine art photographs taken by local photographer, John Threlfall.
I was familiar with John’s work, as it frequently pops up on my Instagram feed, its quality standing out. Whereas I have always favoured monochrome, he goes for saturated colour, with the occasional monochrome for a change. In the light of this, I was particularly keen to catch this exhibition. On entry I found a buzzing cafe and John about to make his speech, thanking his hosts and people for attending.
The photographs have all been taken along the Fylde Coast and the particular locations will be familiar to many readers.
“These photographs reflect my fascination with the temporary,” John said. “The delicate pattern in wet sand, the ghost of a wave etched along the shore, the light caught in a tide pool just for a second. This Fylde Coast edge – where water meets land – is never the same twice. It’s a place shaped by repetition and erosion, by forces too large to fully understand, but too beautiful to ignore.”
The pictures are spare, which adds to their intensity, and have been taken in some spectacular light, even incorporating the moon. This shows John’s deep understanding of the area and long-term commitment, to what is an ongoing photographic project. Extraneous detail has somehow been eliminated, generally including people, which helps make the composition very strong. The approach has enabled John to be in the right place, at the right time and in a position to get each shot in the right light.
I caught up with John to ask him a few questions about his work.
What was you gateway into photography?
“Through secondary school art was my strongest subject, so I followed that naturally. I went to do graphic design at college; as part of graphic design, photography was involved. Back then it was all film developing in the darkroom with the chemicals. This piqued my interest and so, as far back as I can remember, I’ve been interested in photography. Always outdoor stuff, never so much people; landscapes, seascapes and it’s just grown from there. I’m mostly self taught.”
Was there a stand out photographer who inspired you?
“I couldn’t say just one photographer; obviously with social media nowadays, you follow a range of different people. I always think there’s different levels of photographers; you get like those who enjoy but don’t excel, then there’s the top 5% of people whose photographs stand out for me: there’s some people who everything they touch is gold. Basically I aspire to get to that level, that’s what keeps me going.”
Did you go straight to colour, or did you have a black and white phase?
“No, I’ve always done both; naturally some pictures work better in black and white. Sometimes when I’m out and there’s not a lot of colour, I’ll switch to monochrome. Some of the pier work I do will work well in black and white. It’s whatever works best for that particular image.”
Do you have aspirations to travel beyond the Fylde Coast subject area?
“I would like to do; because I live on the Fylde Coast, it’s naturally where I get most of my pictures. I’ve got some shots from Preston, the Lake District; I’ve just got back from a week in Yorkshire. Quite a bit of photography in Scotland; I won a competition there and I’d love to explore more, I’d love to get to the Isle of Skye. As for going abroad, possibly Canada and Yosemite. But most of it, going forward, will still be local.”
Do you switch between film and digital?
“No, I’m fully digital. I’ve actually just upgraded my camera, quite a big step up; a ten year gap in technology. I’m still getting to grips with it, but already I can tell that it’s a better camera giving a bit more freedom.”
What aspirations do you have for the future?
“Keep going; you always have doubt of your own ability. If I like the image that’s great, if anyone else likes it that’s a bonus. I keep getting good feedback, people seem to like what I do; I get approached a lot at a local level: people say they’ve seen my work and they love it, that’s what keeps me going. I think you need that feedback; there’s a great community on Instagram, we all feed off each other. It’s just always to strive to be better, to find more unique shots. I do quite a lot with moons and moonrises; you never know what you’re going to see. There was an incident last year when I was out on location, a beautiful rainbow broke out in front of me.”
Thanks to John for speaking to me and giving me these insights into his work, basically a long-term project to document the Fylde Coast, with a few treats from other places.
Also thanks to the Tea Amantes team for the drinks, cakes and other nibbles. New people were still entering as I left for home, to enjoy this fine collection of pictures.
The exhibition is on display until 5th July 2025. Tea Amantes Cafe and Gallery is on the corner of Coronation Street and Albert Road, behind the HoundsHill Centre.
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