Foreword by Rory McGrath
First Edition £65
In this final book of the series, Martin Bond has chosen some of his most popular pictures; many of which are limited edition fine art prints, alongside some of his own personal more obscure and quirky favourites.
Selected from the last three years of his project, A Cambridge Diary, it showcases a photographer's unique perspective informed by an instinct for composition and timing
A photograph for every day of the year with captions on a monthly page.
Nearly 400 photographs selected from three years of daily pictures.
3rd January
At Wicken Fen, a narrow boat
retreats from the sunset
23rd April
Mietziko’s friendship with a professor at St John’s College comes with its perks
31st July
The Warren House is a unique timber-framed lodge dating back to the 1630s
19th October
A swimmer at Jesus Green Lido prepares for another length of one of Britain's longest pools
23rd February
There are Rothkoesque fields behind Wandlebury Ring
12th May
A little bird has told some cows where to find some treats on Grantchester Meadows
2nd August
At King's College wildflower meadow, the power of just two horses is ideal
25th November
A vintage fairground ride greets visitors at Wimpole Christmas Lights
15th March
University Cycles has traded from the same shop on Victoria Avenue for nearly 50 years.
18th June
Little Bo Peep appears to have lost something behind the doors of Trinity College
21st September
Sidney Street slips into the past as a young woman emerges from the crowd
11th December
Fen skaters return to the frozen flooded fields at Upware for the first time in years
This is the final book in the A Cambridge Diary trilogy; a project which grew from an accidental shot of a decorator spilling paint, into a twelve-month project, and then into a thirteen-year love-affair with a city and its inhabitants. Martin Bond’s 5,000 daily photographs are a visual feast, an expression of history, heritage and humanity, shared with tens of thousands of people on social media. As in the previous two books in the series, his talent for making the ordinary into something extraordinary leaps from the pages, with eloquent commentary appended to the images. His pictures are imbued with theatrical, painterly or poetic qualities, conjuring up a vivid sense of time, place and character with the most minimal of means. He captures moments so perfect and surprising that it's hard to believe they weren't staged.
On 10 December 2023, Martin Bond published his final photograph (seen on page 208): an image of the iconic King's College Chapel with a full moon magnificently suspended between its Tudor spires. A wave of national publicity followed, applauding this unique body of work. But diaries seldom end on such a triumphant, decisive note. Most tend to peter out, quietly wrap up a chapter of life, unravel, dissolve, diminish. It is perhaps significant that Martin Bond chose not to use the resplendent picture of King's College Chapel for the cover of Light & Shade. Instead, his selected image is the bare walls and floor of an empty shop.
After a hundred years of trading, Michael Cooper makes a note of the last items sold at JH Cooper & Son before closing his furniture store on Newmarket Road. The family name is glimpsed as a shadow on the floor, a final evanescent symbol of the once-thriving business. Only the entries in the ledger remain as an archive of history and lived experience.
There are more endings throughout the book. The last day of market trading for Jonny Thornalley after 23 years (March); a derelict 19th century pub by the Little Ouse river slowly sinking into the Fenland soil (September); the last night at The Flying Pig before it was forced to close (October). But if some of what we see appears to suggest critical social observation, it is fleeting. Nothing is resolved and no particular side is taken. Ends of eras sit alongside thriving quirky businesses: camera, book and bicycle shops, barbers and haberdashers, art and antique stores, cafes and pubs. Martin Bond deftly guides us through the city, diverting our attention from sweeping cinematic scenes to rich compact details that accord with the camera’s facility to describe and preserve. His images frame and magnify, allowing us to see what our eyes might have passed over. They pull beauty from chance, conjure up novel relationships between uncooperative elements, emphasise the rhythms of existence, and invite us to enjoy the passing of time.In Light & Shade, Martin Bond bows out with a fervent and unflinching tribute to a changing city.
Kate Romano