Get in the zone for landscapes

Andrew Haggar has devised an innovative long-form project: take one square kilometre and photograph it for a number of years

- Niall Hampton

We’re all familiar with the term ‘in the zone’ and being absorbed with the job in hand, but Andrew Haggar has literally taken this concept to the next level. Having chosen a square kilometre of open land close to his home, Haggar has repeatedly photographed it over the past six years for a long-term photo project titled MySquareK, or MySqK for short.

Looking to publish it as a book, Haggar invited Digital Camera up to Cumbria so we could see how the project works in practice.

One of England’s most sparsely populated counties, Cumbria boasts many areas of outstanding natural beauty and Haggar’s chosen area nestles within the Pennine, Howgill and Lake District hills.

Arriving in the village of Crosby Ravensworth at dinner time, I meet Haggar early the next day, and prepare to find out more about MySqK. As we drive up a track to the location, it’s soon clear that Haggar’s square kilometre is no honeypot and he doesn’t shoot picture postcard photos; this is rugged and exposed terrain, grazed by sheep in weather conditions that are often very unforgiving.

But, as Haggar notes, great landscape photographs can be taken in the most unremarkable and unassuming places. And this rugged Cumbrian landscape is what inspired Haggar to become a photographer, which he practises alongside working as a landscape architect.