21 Photos: Cornwall’s timeless magic revisited

Milly Kenny-Ryder is a London-based travel writer and photographer with a passion for exploring places through food, culture and design. As the co-founder of Weekend Journals, she has spent years documenting destinations with a distinctive eye for detail. Here, she turns her lens on a place close to her heart, revealing its landscapes, traditions and creative spirit.

When you’re one of four kids, holiday destinations are usually picked depending on what’s logistically possible; then, as a clan, you make your own fun together when you arrive. Cornwall was ideal for my family, we all bundled into my parent’s big people carrier, armed with endless snacks and a playlist of nostalgic classics, courtesy of my dad who is the king of compilations. 

As an artistic family, Cornwall appealed to my parent’s visual interests, being the home of the pioneering British artists Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, but also a county that has long been recognised for its tradition of craft. And, of course, its natural beauty is undeniable – long walks and chips on the beach were usually our failsafe itinerary here – perfect for a family with four unruly kids with energy to burn.

When my husband Simon and I started our travel guidebook company, Weekend Journals, 10 years ago, Cornwall felt like a natural first location to rediscover and document – especially as Simon’s maternal family hail from west Cornwall, and he too holidayed there every year as a child. We brought on my talented younger brother Gabriel to capture the main photos, while I penned the words and Simon designed the layout and look of the book.

The timeless quality of this destination is a pleasure to photograph, thanks to the magical light, coastal vistas and quaint unchanged fishing villages. While it’s exciting to spotlight thriving local businesses, the true backdrop to our books is the natural beauty of a place, which Cornwall has in abundance. You can hike for hours to find the perfect shot, or you can stick your camera out of the car window at almost any moment for a haphazard – but often more compelling – shot of true Cornish life.

The focal point of Cornwall is different each season, making it a true year-round destination. In winter, the barren land and deserted towns are mysterious and wondrous; spring brings hopeful huddles of yellow gorse flowers; autumn is hazy with softer hues; and summer is bright and busy – the turquoise shores sparkle and the beaches fill with ice-cream guzzling tourists.

Each of our guidebooks features approximately 40 venues, places we want to recommend and shout about – from boutique hotels to gastronomic eateries, contemporary galleries to well-kept gardens, each possesses something unique. Some of our must-visits in Cornwall include Crocadon Farm, Jubilee Pool, St Eia and Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens. 

The photography for these places is designed to illustrate the highlights of a place – food shots are styled sensitively and interiors are usually void of people – this is deliberately done to tell the story of the business in a beautiful but uncluttered way. We don’t want anything to distract our readers from getting to know the chosen places we are featuring. Lighting is, when possible, entirely natural, relying on daylight to show the nuances and textures of the subject with a clarity that is universal across the book. Editing is kept to a minimum.

The outdoor, natural subjects are treated differently. When shooting a new book, we’re usually tight on time, so we’re at the mercy of the unpredictable British weather – surprisingly harsh sunlight can be the most challenging of conditions, flooding the subject and causing the finer details to get lost. Usually the less dramatic seasons provide the best ambient light for our landscape pictures. 

Gabriel will often use a film camera for outdoor shots, giving him greater control over the colour and textures, and more scale and scope for editing results later. The setup of a film camera is more laborious, so you have to be less spontaneous with your photo-taking. His shots can be abstract and unlikely, prioritising shapes and lines to present pictures that are arresting and thought-provoking.

Weekend Journals aims to provide an alternative view of a destination – we avoid the obvious beaches and popular sites, instead opting for memorable places that tell a quieter tale. Historic and spiritual rock formations have always been an important subject for us, such as Mên-an-Tol (Cornish for ‘Stone of the Hole’), a holed 1.2m stone believed to be from the Bronze Age. 

The clootie trees of Cornwall are another favourite – magical old trees adorned with rags and ribbons. The tree at Madron Wishing Well is particularly special as it is where my siblings and I visited when we were younger, contributing each year with a scrap of material and dedicating a wish to the wise old trunk. These sacred sites are a wonderful way to enjoy Cornwall’s mythical side without the overwhelming crowds.

Towards the end of our books we feature interviews with a few local makers and creators – these exclusive pieces offer insightful, in-the-know tips to getting to know the county. We pepper the interviews with a series of snapshot photos, moments that we came across unexpectedly – a field of cows at sunset or the backstreets from a working fishing village. It offers us the opportunity to showcase a less curated collection of images which we feel paint the picture of Cornwall, through our eyes.