Image showing the front cover of the book called - Cambridge Town & Gown

Revised Second Edition £65

In 'Cambridge - Town & Gown', photographer Martin Bond has meticulously curated a selection of 365 images chosen from the first seven years of his daily pictures.

As a body of work, it tells a unique tale of this extraordinary, diverse and multi-faceted city, celebrating and challenging its timeless beauty, juxtaposing tradition and ritual with the candid realities of everyday life.

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Image showing an inside spread of pages of the book called - Cambridge Town & Gown

An introduction to each month and captions for every photograph.

A photograph for every day of the year selected from seven years of daily pictures.

A young girl plays with a pink balloon in a dark wet street

7th January

Reprieved Christmas lights illuminate Sussex Street as a young girl plays with a balloon

Members of St Johns Chapel Choir wait to be called to the pews

27th April

Members of St John’s College Chapel Choir await a call to the pews

A couple dance the tango on the walls of Kings College

18th July

A visiting couple dance the tango on a wall outside King’s College

3rd October

A single lamp illuminates the conversation at an antiques stall late in the afternoon

A solitary figure walks along a tree lined avenue

3rd February

Snow accentuates the woven canopy of London Planes above Jesus Green Avenue

A grazing cow reaches up for to eat the leaves of a willow tree

16th May

A grazing cow reaches for willow leaves on the common land of Coe Fen

A group of young cyclists relax in the grass

12th August

A group of cyclists take a break outside The Blue Ball public house in Grantchester

A collie dog sits behind a sign which says keep off the grass

3rd November

At St John's College the Head Gardener's dog enjoys special dispensation

A newly-wed couple ride a bicycle with balloons attached to the basket

20th March

A couple chose transport synonymous to the city to travel from the church

A young woman in a blue ball gown walks away from a young man in the foreground

18th June

A young woman seems to spurn a suitor who enters the frame by chance

The clock tower above Kings College main gate at sunset

22nd September

The late afternoon sun provides drama to the clock tower of King’s College

25th December

For a Christmas Day picture, a moment from a magazine cover photo shoot

The photographs in 'Town & Gown' are evocative, poignant, striking, humorous and stunningly beautiful. Martin Bond’s clever use of available light creates theatrical images, from intimate encounters to cinematic vistas, where the subject matter melds into or leaps out of the landscape; a neon petrol station against storm clouds, street-lamps spotlighting a food van, a freezing blue fog shrouding a college gate. Famous landmarks are seen reflected in water, dappled in sunlight or suggested through shadows. But at its heart are the human stories. With an eye for detail and the unexpected, lives are played out in these photographs: buskers, toddlers, market traders, students, diners, porters, barbers, sign-writers, cyclists, road workers, professors, stonemasons. The lifecycle of the City is made rich and possible by its inhabitants, a message which becomes more and more apparent as the reader moves through the book.

The book is divided into 12 chronological months, each prefaced by a commentary written by Martin Bond. The text has an attractive immediacy about it, like the photographs. Bond’s economic style reads like miniature headlines of everyday life provoking humour, surprise and empathy. There are occasional potted histories of people and places and a few creative discursions where the photographer's imagination takes over. Presenting a page of text followed by a month of images necessitates turning the pages backwards and forwards but I enjoyed the physical engagement with the book. It’s not a book to read in bed or carry around; it's a tabletop gallery, to be visited, viewed in good light, and savoured.

Kate Romano

Artistic Director, Goldfield Productions & CEO, Stapleford Granary

Revised Second Edition £65

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