Artist Paul Burrell holds photographic exhibition in the waiting rooms at Bishop's Stortford railway station
The photographic exhibition now arriving at Platforms One, Two and Three is just the ticket for commuters and day-trippers alike.
Paul Burrell is the man behind the first-class images on display in the two waiting rooms at Bishop's Stortford railway station.
The station manager has got on board with the Stortford photographer's idea to brighten up the spaces with a carriage-load of new pictures.
And Paul, who is also an accomplished musician and composer, hopes passengers will enjoy going on an artistic journey before taking to the tracks.
"Fewer people are likely to go to galleries, so it's a case of the gallery coming to the people," said Paul, who was head of music at Presdales School in Ware and is an organist at St Michael's Church in Stortford.
"Several years ago, the waiting room areas at Bishop's Stortford station were renovated and repainted. Noticing that the walls were bare, I approached the station manager, who gave me permission to display several photo canvases.
"I had just mounted an exhibition at Canary Wharf so I used several from there. I've now been given permission to change the canvasses with many new photos."
The photos in Waiting Room One were taken at the Iron Wharf Boatyard in Faversham, Kent.
"This is a DIY boatyard where vessels of different sizes are in dry dock for restoration or left to rot," said Paul.
"I've always been fascinated by patterns in art and sought to isolate and capture what might be considered random 'design' in the hulls of boats in various states of repair.
"The photos in Waiting Room Two are an eclectic mix, including photos taken in Ireland, Brick Lane, St Pancras and, more locally, at St James the Great Church in Thorley in wintertime."
While it has been full steam ahead for Paul creating his new exhibition, he hopes travellers will be able to put on the brakes and study the pictures in order to extract their own meanings.
The images from the Iron Wharf Boatyard provide an array of weird and wonderful patterns which should have passengers entranced while they wait to be whisked off to a new destination. You would be forgiven for thinking you were looking at pictures of oceans or other planets.
"All these photos have titles but, like abstract expressionist art, you can observe the patterns or read into them what you will," said Paul, who is also a keen golfer and member of the senior section at Great Hadham Golf Club.
"Influences for these photographs include the artists Mark Rothko, Lee Krasner, Nina Murdoch and Bridget Riley.
"The old saying 'the devil is in the detail' is not always true. More frequently, the beauty is in the detail."
