This incredible collection of heartwarming countryside images showcase the rags to riches story of a photographer who shot to fame – after his iconic photo of his sleeping Labrador stormed the internet.
The self-styled anonymous “Banksy” photographer, who goes by the name of Villager Jim, was stuck in a routine job as a web designer when he picked up a camera one day in August last year to snap his cute Labrador Dilly asleep on an armchair.
The beautiful shot went viral – with requests for a copy flooding in from across the globe.
Villager Jim, who keeps his real identity under wraps, now has his own line of greetings cards and is a national treasure turning over £30,000 a MONTH with his incredible shots of mother nature taken in the North England
countryside.
Jim, 49, has now been scouted by a major commercial company to produce the cards soon to hit the shelves ready to be snapped up by the public.
The photographer spends his days driving down country lanes in his home country of Derbyshire snapping Mother Nature’s most splendid scenes capturing the cheeky side of British wildlife.
Shots feature Thomas the horse frolicking in the snow like a puppy, a cheeky Highland cattle cow sticking his tongue out and cute owls camouflaged into a dry stone wall.
Jim‘s hapless Labradors Dilly and Barnaby also capture the nation’s hearts, with one photo showing chocolate lab Barnaby curled up on a chair reading the newspaper TV listings.
“I think if you really do rationalise it, it’s the vast majority of people who live in towns and cities wanting to be part of an adventure they can only dream of having”, Jim said.
“It’s all an adventure and people log on to see what I’ve done today. It’s the story that goes with it that people are looking into.
“It’s all slightly magical and it sucks people into wanting people to know more.”
Jim‘s success has also graced headlines with the viral shot he took of a cloud – shaped like a penis.
He said: “The Facebook following has just gone mental. One of the major points of loving what I do is the “gang” of followers online.
“I feel as though I know each and every one of them and always love having a chat online. The people online are my greatest pleasure as it’s amazing to be able to have an audience that appreciates my pictures.”
But his novel new career brings a new life that’s a far cry from his former role as a web designer.
He said: “There is a lot of work involved but what isn’t work is getting up at 4am everyday and capturing the local wildlife as it wakes up in a morning.
“It’s still the most enjoyable thing in the world.
“I’m surrounded by great pictures which are all within three to four miles of my house. But it’s knowing where the images are and that’s taken five years to build up.”
Since January, Villager Jim has sold over 150,000 greetings cards, 10,000 calendars and thousands of eye-catching cushions, and his unique range also includes mugs, diaries and notebooks, all emblazoned with a heartwarming image.
“I had a picture of Dilly the Labrador in an armchair and someone wanted it as a greetings card,” he said.
“Then we went off to do the cushions, and now we have a deal with a jigsaw maker.
“We’ve got knitting patterns, teapots and we are now moving into putting the images on beer bottles.
“It’s quite a fitting thing and I am loving every minute of it.”
Villager Jim stumbled across his talent by chance after moving to his countryside home in Foolow, Derbys., seven years ago, with no interest in
photography.
“I only really bought a camera when I moved here,” he said.
“I had a camera but it was a cheap one that lived in the cupboard, so Ithought I should go out and buy a reasonable one.
“That’s when I took my first good image. I thought ‘wow’ and I was addicted.
“I work hard and I have pushed it as hard as I can to grab whatever images I can.”
Villager Jim is now planning on launching his work into America, Canada and Australia.
“There’s definitely the market there,” he said.
“After seeing my cards next to those of National Geographic, I can tell there’s something about them people really like, and that’s a real honour.
“However, it all feels like a bit of a con, because I enjoy what I’m doing so much and I have convinced so many other people to like it too.”
