Local photographer Kate Somervell is our current Cafe Artist, and her impressionistic black and white photographs will be on sale in the Cafe until the 31st August.
As a black and white photographer, Kate enjoys the challenges of producing images from concept, through capture, processing and then producing the final print.
She enjoys experimenting with different techniques and genres from landscape to still life, and exhibits regularly at the Joe Cornish Gallery in Northallerton, where she is one of the Gallery Photographers.
Living in North Yorkshire, Kate loves working in the countryside locally and is delighted to share some of her most recent work of the area, as well as images from the Lake District and Scotland.
More of Kate’s work can be viewed at www.solitudephotography.co.uk
Some of Kate's work in the Cafe was made during Lockdown. Here Kate explains how she adapted:
"Lockdown presented challenges for everyone. During the first couple of weeks I struggled to deal with the lack of freedom to choose photographic locations and subject matter. Having just returned form the Isle of Lewis, at least I had some new images to work on, including ‘Grains’ and ‘Shadowlands’. However, it soon became clear that I would need to find something to inspire my creativity closer to home or find another way of working!
I had long admired the work of Valda Bailey and Doug Chinnery who are specialists in photographic impressionism. Lockdown pushed them into offering online courses which they had been considering for some time, and I was incredibly lucky to get a place. The photographs now hanging in the Café include those that I made as a direct result of the Bailey and Chinnery workshop; ‘Cherry’, ‘Contemplation’, ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Silver’ were all taken in my garden and kitchen.
I love the freedom of creativity a more impressionistic way of working allows for, perhaps combining this with a more traditional approach. It is exciting not knowing where the next inspiration will come from or in which direction my work will go. I do know that I see the world around me differently, and I am more aware of all the possible photographic opportunities close to home. My website also got a facelift, but those cupboards still haven’t been sorted out… yet!"
