JULY 2025: GARY RAMAGE
PHOTOGRAPH: TRANQUILITY
THE ASSIGNMENT BRIEF
From Gary Ramage: “I’ve chosen tranquility as my word for the assignment, because I’m drawn to the quiet that photographs can hold. One that comes to mind is a picture I made in a war zone, a young bomb disposal soldier curled up with his dog, the two of them keeping warm through the night. It’s one of the few that I’ve printed large, and it hangs in the dining room as a reminder that even in chaos, there can be peace. These days, I look for that same stillness in everyday moments: frosty mornings, quiet walks before work, just a bit of calm to start the day.”
HOW TO ENTER. IMPORTANT NOTES ON FILE SIZE AND ENTRIES
Send your entry to stories@photowalk.show. Your picture should be 2,500 pixels wide, if possible, for online optimisation. Or send the full-resolution photo, which we will optimise. Feel free to provide text as well if you think it will help explain the location, context, etc. Please don’t add borders or watermarks, and be sure to send FULL URL links to your websites and socials so that we can link to your work on this assignment page. We’ll use a selection of photos you submit on our Photowalk Instagram to showcase your work to our community and help build connections.
Entries are shown below. Good luck!
Neale
GARY RAMAGE
A picture of tranquility from Gary Ramage.
CHRISTOPHER KARNES
This photo was taken shortly after getting back into photography after a very long hiatus. Our business was closed for two weeks due to COVID, and my wife and I spent a lot of time hiking. This was taken on a September morning as we strolled along a quiet woodland path with a global pandemic raging around us.
KEITH JOHNSON
My submission for this month's assignment, Tranquillity.
Whilst on a recent visit to my family in Dubai, we had a day at the beach where the current water temperature is about 32 °C, almost like being in the bath, I dared to wade into the water with my camera. This is my son and grandson having a tranquil moment and both are absolutely zoned out and one of my favourite pictures from the beach trip which show's a true father and son moment.
See more of Keith’s work on Instagram.
JEFF SMERALDO
This is my entry for July’s “Tranquility” assignment. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and what came to mind was the idea that tranquillity can be both a place where you find peace of mind and a state you can actively put yourself into. As a martial artist, our instructor often spoke about finding inner calm right before we performed our katas, shutting out the world momentarily, gathering ourselves, and then “exploding” into our movements.
This led me to think about a shot I captured recently as a sports/winter guard photographer. I would often see young performers do exactly what I described: they would block out the jitters, the crowd, and the chaos of the competition, get into their starting positions, and enter a brief, quiet moment of inner tranquillity. This particular shot was taken just as one of these performers assumed her starting position, capturing that fleeting moment before her performance, when she achieved a sense of tranquillity to calm her mind and prepare to put on her best performance.
See more of Jeff’s work on Substack.
ROBERT DANN
My father was a country veterinarian serving farmers in rural upstate New York. His was a profession that rarely lent itself to travel. However, The last two weeks of August each year, he would pack up our large Oldsmobile with my four brothers and Mom, of course, and drag a boat to a rocky peninsula on the St. Lawrence River called Kring Point State Park. We camped in a huge tent and spent the time fishing, swimming and exploring the river dividing New York from Ontario, Canada. It was a family “reset button” so to speak. That was sixty years ago and my brothers and I still get together for our own “reset” at the same park. The River is one of those places where the weather can turn in a matter of minutes into legendary storms which makes tranquil sunsets over the river more special. As a photographer, I always come away mentally refreshed and my “why” reaffirmed.
See Robert’s work on his website.
MARILYN DAVIES
Tranquility is often at hand when I pick up my camera. But when I first heard of the subject of this month's assignment, my thoughts immediately went to a pelican gliding on the surface of a lake. This morning I went to a local spot to find some birds and I was rewarded with this image of a pelican lit by the morning sun moving into some shadows on a lake...
STEPHANIE TAYLOR
Could there be a anything more peaceful than kayaking on a glassy lake? No sound except for water dripping off a paddle. Other than my paddling friend far in the distance, there were no other people, only an occasional creature swimming or flying. This lake, in the middle of a major metropolitan area, Sacramento, California, is a miraculous place to be.
See more of Stephanie’s art and read more of her writings on this website.
VICTORIA ROBB
This is taken at the WWT Wetland Centre Barnes last Sunday, where I volunteer doing visitor engagement. The vegetation is so lush at the moment, and this is in a part where it is planted with northern taiga forest species that give the soft colouration and darker waters, that make me feel calm. Only the planes on their way to Heathrow give away this is in London.
STEEVEN ZEISS
To me, this picture embodies tranquility and life itself. The corn provides sustenance, the tree offers oxygen, and the vast expanse of „negative“ space offers me ample space to breathe, relax, and find inner peace. I’m a big fan of negative space; it always has a calming effect on me and encourages me to rest and reflect on my thoughts.
CHRIS RUHR
My submission for this month’s assignment, tranquility. I decided to take another stab at getting a detail shot of the stagecoach that I photographed for last month's relic assignment. I only managed to have time for a few hurried images that would be suitable for the subject of tranquility.
There’s a quiet stillness in this image that immediately draws me in. The weathered, wrought iron bench, sitting alone on a patch of sunlit grass, seems to invite pause—a space for breath and reflection. Its intricate, almost whimsical design contrasts softly with the bold, clean lines of the bridge beyond. The distant blur of the structure and sky pulls the eye gently outward, while the sharp foreground holds you in place.
It’s this balance between solitude and openness that feels so calming. There’s no rush here, no noise—just a moment suspended in light and simplicity. It’s the kind of scene that makes you want to sit down, feel the warmth of the ground, and let your thoughts drift quietly across the horizon.
See more of Chris’ work on Instagram.
PHIL ALLEN
For the assignment, I thought of this image straight away
It was taken on a warm sunny day at the Barbican, I watched the gentleman as he dozed with his own thoughts in a perfect sun trap. It was such a peaceful spot and made me feel quite jealous after a long day walking from the West End to the Barbican with a heavy pack on my pack.
See more of Phil’s work on Instagram.
CHRIS GRAY
This shot I took from the old pedestrian bridge over the Main that links two nearby towns. I love this shot because, unfortunately I can no longer take in this view. Since I took this photo the bridge was destroyed and they have opened a new one which shows more of the neighboring towns and their busy life. It's just not as peaceful walking across the river anymore.
See more of Chris’ work on his website.
ALLIN SORENSON
This is tranquility born of paradox—a profound stillness created by the smoke from the destructive Canadian Wildfires. The haze created a world where time seemed to slow, and silence was almost deafening. Early morning on Lake Superior near Grand Marais, Minnesota.
DREW BROWN
An early morning sunrise at Howden Reservoir in the Peak District. The light on the hills, the calm water, the reflections and having this beautiful place to myself exemplified tranquility.
See more of Drew’s work on Instagram.
ANDREW CLARK
I took this image as I sat watching the sun rise with my youngest brother on the shore of lake Cootharaba in the Noosa Everglades, Australia while being eaten by the local mosquitoes…. As you can imagine being eaten by the mosquitoes wasn’t what I would call tranquil but sitting with my brother watching the sunrise in such a beautiful place was pretty close to perfect and something I haven’t done since we were camping as Kids many many moons ago. We both sat in ore of the reflections of the sky and sunrise on the perfectly still lakes surface. Later that day we took a boat ride across the lake and up the stunning Everglades which is one of only two Everglades in the world, the other being in Florida USA.
See more of Andrew’s work in Instagram.
MO MCCALL
July 5, 2025. The day after America's day of "Independence". I was driving to the boardwalk and wondered if this was morning fog or leftover smoke from the fireworks (if that's even possible). When I made it to the boardwalk, the fog thickened (?) and it was actually very serene and tranquil. This shot was captured on within my first 10 steps on the actual boardwalk. I didn't want to move from there, but I also didn't want to block the path.
GERT JAN COLE
Inspired by your recent street photography adventures, I decided to give the genre a chance and joined a street photography photowalk organised by Michiel Heijmans and Niels de Kemp, hosts of the Dutch '30 minuten sluitertijd' podcast (that's 30 minutes shutter speed in English) in my hometown Utrecht in the Netherlandsland.
Admittedly, street photography is way outside of my comfort zone, a zone which is loosely defined by the absence of unrelated humans in the equation, as in, it's either just the person I'm shooting a portrait of and me, or just nature and me, with me frantically trying to eliminate every sign of human existence in the frame. No man-made landmarks, no concrete trails or metal guardrails, no power lines - just nature. Quite the opposite of a city.
But in this new role as street photographer, I myself shouldn't be part of the equation: my mere visible presence might alter the dynamics of the scene, and change people's behaviour. As several more experienced street photographers in our group pointed out to me, precisely this aspect was challenging because of the size of the group. Add a lot of photographers to any scene and the whole atmosphere changes, making this a fun and enjoyable experience, but a-typical for street photography.
The part I liked less however, was shooting people on the street. It felt a bit awkward, uncomfortable, maybe even a bit dishonest, to take a picture of someone without them being aware of it.
Add to this the fact that I'm an introvert, feeling more at ease on my own or in very small groups, and you'll understand why I was either lagging behind or moving way ahead of the flock of photogs.
That's how I came to step solo through medieval gates into the gardens of the Pandhof, an oasis surrounded by a monastery corridor, a former bishop's gardens filled with herbs. There, leaning against the ancient walls, stood a woman, taking in the environment, while listening to a troubadour in the corridor singing softly about parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
To me, entering this quiet, secluded garden, leaving behind the noise of the city, her serene and beautiful presence embodied what this place was all about: tranquility. The scene stopped me in my track and I shot a picture of her for this month's assignment, just before some sixty more photographers of our group flooded the scene and changed the mood completely.
I walked up to her and showed her the image, which she really liked, and I gave her my contact details so she could email me to get a copy. Weird as it may sound, this felt like receiving absolution for taking her picture without her prior knowledge - it was at that moment I realised that this was my shtick. Shooting street as a fly on the wall isn't for me, I need interaction with the people I'm photographing to make it feel wholesome and meaningful.
Which made this street photowalk not only fun and enjoyable, but also a next step towards me discovering what kind of photographer I want to be.
Kind regards,
Gert Jan
P.S. Some more images from this photowalk, including a bit of playing around with the new TTArtisan 35mm f1.4 Tilt for MFT, and the fancy Live ND feature from the OM System OM5 to create hand-held motion blur, can be found HERE.
DAVID HIGTON
This picture was made as I walked up Sponds Hill from Pott Shigley towards Bowstones, an image of the view across the Cheshire Plain towards the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank that I made on the walk.
JOHAN RISPLING
Photo of my friend fly fishing in the Klarälven River on a late summer evening, in the region of Värmland, Sweden.
See more of Johan’s work on Instagram.
KEVIN REEVES
This is my idea of tranquillity: a photograph of the sunset behind the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains in Western North Carolina, USA. This breathtaking view was captured from Mount Jefferson State Natural Area in Ashe County, North Carolina.
See more of Kevin’s work on Instagram.
BRICE WHITTAKER
The shot I am submitting today was taken at the botanical gardens in my small home town in Queensland, Australia. There isn't usually much to see around here, however the gardens always seem to have something to give me, at least in terms of photography. I find the diversity of the plant life in the area, contrasted with the large pond to be quite mesmerising and when the sun hits everything just right no word sums it up better for me than 'Tranquil'. The gardens are usually pretty deserted already and passers-by tend to keep a low profile especially if they spot you with a camera. So on a good day it is quite easy to bask in views such as this one.
I hope the photo is in the right size, I did all the editing on my phone this time around so I'm not entirely sure if I got it right.
See more of Brice’s work on Instagram.
