WHEN photographer Chris Routledge went outside on the morning after Storm Desmond, the first thing he noticed was that his car had been washed away.

But he also noticed the dramatic changes that the floodwater had made to the valley of the river Rothay near his home. And after recovering his car, he got out his camera.

Now his exhibition which records the violent impact of those storms on the Lake District landscape will open next month in Grasmere.

Indeterminate Land is a collection of photos by Mr Routledge showing the impact of the storm’s aftermath on the Rothay, near Rydal.

It will open at the Heaton Cooper Studio archive gallery on October 10.

The photos, in black and white, illustrate the “many strange and beautiful changes” that took place after the storm in December 2015 which smashed rainfall records and caused widespread flooding in Cumbria.

Mr Routledge, who has a house near the river, began photographing a short section of the Rothay as the storm abated, and in the months that followed.

The project, Mr Routledge says, explores our relationship with the landscape, and the subtle ways in which it changes at the edge of what we see.

“Working with various approaches to image making, including pinhole photography, I also tried to explore the feelings of shock, and to some extent trauma, that followed from the storm, and to think about how the much-mythologised landscape of the Romantic poets and painters manages to defy myth making,” he said.

A freelance writer as well as photographer, Mr Routledge has worked on many different kinds of non-fiction writing projects, including blogs, books and journalism. He describes himself as a serial shed builder, rides a tandem, and is a regular podcaster at the Ormskirk Baron beer reviews blog.

The artist Julian Cooper, who is curating the exhibition, said: “This new book and exhibition is a deep and closely observed study of the stretch of the river Rothay as it passes through Rydal.

“These quietly powerful black and white photos show the fragility and resilience of this romantic landscape during and after the floods of Storm Desmond in 2015.”

Indeterminate Land will run from Oct 10 to November 3.