Atmospheric photographs of Hampstead Heath

Between 2006 and 2011, photographer Andy Sewell roamed the vast, managed wilderness of Camden’s Hampstead Heath with his camera. As the seasons passed, he captured subtle observations of nature within the city. He self-published these photographs in a book, The Heath.

Key location:

Hampstead Heath

Key dates:

2006–2011

Among the trees

A wooded area reveals one tree bearing a cross which has been carved into its trunk. In this series, Sewell captures a natural landscape that was once countryside, but is now in the heart of the capital.

Colour photograph across a pond. Bathers and a hut are visible on the shore against a background of trees, and all are reflected in the surface of the water. Lifeguards sit in the centre.
2012.74/40 is a larger version of the same print.

Part of the five year project Sewell made documenting the Heath in an attempt to capture the naturally wild and that which is managed to appear so.

A refreshing swim

Bathers in one of Hampstead Heath’s three freshwater swimming ponds. The Highgate Men’s Pond and Kenwood Ladies’ Pond were made by damming part of one of London’s lost rivers, the River Fleet.

“The Heath is as managed as any other part of London but managed to feel wild”
Andy Sewell, The Heath

Inspirational surroundings

Hampstead Heath has long been an inspiration for artists. John Constable, for example, painted the heath a number of times. Here, an artist’s easel and paints stand by a bench in an open section of the park.

Feeding the birds

A red nylon mesh bag of nuts hangs from a branch, while a blue tit and a great tit wait nearby. There are reportedly 180 different species of bird in the heath.

Winter melts away

Sewell’s photographs capture the quiet stillness of nature on the heath. But the human presence – like these two rolled snowballs – is always there, too.