Trees are silhouetted against an overcast sky.

English photographer John Bell (1920-64) is believed to have done this print late in his career, before his life was cut tragically short. The following is his obituary which appeared in The Photographic Journal of the Royal Photographic Association: Vol. 104, No. 10 (October, 1964) p. 280:

JOHN BELL (Fellow)

The death of John Bell (Fellow) at the age of 44 occurred in a Coventry hospital on 27 July following a tragic road accident on 14 July at Allesley, between Birmingham and Coventry. Mr. Bell was travelling from his native Accrington to London, where he had been working since early in the year, and had stopped to give assistance at the scene of an accident in which a motor van containing four young people had overturned. In disregard of possible danger he had just rescued one of them who was unconscious, when another vehicle collided with the wreckage and Mr. Bell received severe injuries. He never regained consciousness.

John Bell’s interest in pictorial photography started in his early twenties and he quickly made a mark in Lancashire club circles. He joined the Society in 1945, attaining Associate-ship in the same year and Fellowship in 1956.

Three years later, at the London Salon Jubilee Exhibition, he was one of the few to be awarded a commemorative medal. Mr. Bell’s prints had been shown in the leading exhibitions for a period of almost 20 years. His work was characterized by a bold, original and versatile approach, much of it in the gum bichromate process, and more recently he had exhibited prints in trichrome gum bichromate.

His latest achievement was the formation of the North West Programme Committee of the Pictorial Group in 1963, for it was his vision, hard work and persistence that made it possible and brought it to fruition. His lack of personal ambition and his dedication to the cause of the advancement of photography were never more in evidence than in the effort he devoted to this project. To his aunt and cousins, and his friends in whom he inspired so much affection, we offer our deepest sympathy.   J. Y. Brown