Here it is, my 200th photo of the week

Posted on November 25, 2021November 26, 2021 by carlotta

Here it is, my 200th photo of the week

I sent out my very first photo of the week back in the summer of 2015. At the time I could never have imagined all the interesting avenues down which my work would take me.

This week I give you a beautiful stained glass window from Southover Grange that is nearly 450 years old. A few years ago I recorded the renovation of this magnificent Elizabethan manor in the centre of Lewes for its owners, East Sussex County Council. My photographs of the restoration can be found here.

My original digital photograph shows the subtle colours of the ancient stained glass. You can see it here. I find it interesting the way in which printing this image as a cyanotype changes how we read it. In monochrome, the patterns of light have a feeling of solidity and an almost watery sense of depth.

I will be showing this print, along with a selection of other architectural and landscape cyanotypes, next Friday and Saturday at the annual Artists and Makers Christmas Fair in Lewes Town Hall.

Along with original prints, I will be selling my books (sea shore, Lewes Bonfire Portraits and 11 Sun Street, Lewes) and greeting cards of my cyanotypes of both landscapes and local architecture. Please come and say hello if you are in the area.

If you cannot make it to the fair, you can always order prints from me directly and buy any of my books from my website. It is not too late to order for Christmas. All my hand-printed cyanotypes are available to buy. I have many more than are on my website so get in touch if you would like to know more. Information about purchasing my prints and all of my photography books can be found here.

On the last day of summer

Posted on September 24, 2020 by carlotta

On the last day of summer

On the last day of summer, I swam in a sea with no horizon. It was boundless and made of liquid silver. The morning sun was hidden by a bank of mist and there was a stillness in the air and across the water. As I swam, I savoured the feeling, hoping that I would be able to retrieve it during the months of winter ahead. More of my landscape photographs are here.

I am self-publishing a book of my cyanotype Bonfire portraits. It is available by mail order. You can find more information here.

Please get in touch if you have a workplace, an event, a celebration, a portrait or a building project you would like to have photographed.

Hot cross buns in the time of lockdown

Posted on April 10, 2020April 10, 2020 by carlotta

Hot cross buns in the time of lockdown

Having endless and unstructured time during our coronavirus lockdown is a challenge for me. One of the things that helps me get through the day is taking on the demands and rhythms of making sourdough bread. With lots of time, no yeast, and four people to feed, it seemed an obvious step, although success with sourdough had always eluded me in the past. Checking on my rising dough is now what gets me out of bed in the morning, as I tweak and change my methods daily in the quest for the perfect loaf.

With Easter weekend approaching, the obvious next step was to rise to the challenge of sourdough hot cross buns (no pun intended). Patience is needed for this, as the slow proving time means they take about 24 hours to make. But hey, time is the one thing that we currently have in abundance. So here are our hot cross buns, still warm from the oven, in the soft April evening light, accompanied by a jar of forget-me-nots from the garden. Wishing you all a safe and healthy Easter bank holiday weekend. (In case you were wondering, and I know I am probably biased, but they were delicious!)

More of my residential and interiors photos can be found here.

Seven Sisters summer solstice

Posted on June 23, 2017June 1, 2018 by photograph

Seven Sisters summer solstice

Happy solstice. This is Sussex in summer, a glorious time of year when daylight lasts from 4am to 10pm. The Seven Sisters, the white chalk cliffs that line the coast, turn golden with the setting sun, as here at Birling Gap.

More of my landscape photographs can be found here.

You can find a short film of my Depot photographs on youtube here. It shows a selection of 200 shots covering two years of photographing this former brewery depot as it became a state-of-the-art community cinema.

Martin Freeman visits the Depot

Posted on June 2, 2017June 1, 2018 by photograph

Martin Freeman visits the Depot

Here it is, opening night at the Depot Cinema in Lewes… I have spent two years documenting the journey of this disused brewery depot as it became a state-of-the-art cinema. Starting with an empty shell of remnants of an industrial past and old studio spaces, I photographed its dismantling and building up again into a light-filled, spacious and beautiful building. Five years in the planning, the vision of a community cinema and arts venue has finally come to fruition. If feels like a most generous gift as been bestowed on the people of Lewes, giving them a building and gardens that welcome the public to sit, talk, drink and eat and three cinemas that offer films to entertain, challenge and expand horizons.

As befits a grand opening, we had our brush with celebrity with the arrival of Martin Freeman, world-renown star of the film and tv worlds, along with other stars of the music, film, tv and literature worlds. Martin signed autographs to the waiting crowds (including one boy in a deerstalker hat, a nod to Martin’s role in Sherlock), mingled with guests and then officially opened Screen One with a q & a with Robert Senior, the Depot’s chair of trustees. The warm summer evening, the glamorous guests and the spacious and gracious building put little Lewes on the map for a night.

Southover Grange is open

Posted on April 21, 2017June 1, 2018 by photograph

Southover Grange is open

The renovation of Southover Grange is complete and awaiting its first event. It looks beautiful and glamorous and I envy the couples who will be using it to celebrate their weddings. I began documenting the restoration of this Tudor manor in the centre of Lewes as the builders were moving in and returned to the site several times over the following 12 months. It is a rambling house with an interesting history and an important role in the fabric of the town. This was the registry office for many years (and is now again) so it was a place of weddings and the recording of births and deaths.

One of the most significant aspects of this project for me was how my photographs triggered memories that people felt compelled to share. I heard from numerous residents about their personal connections to the house, including several whose parents were caretakers and for whom the upstairs flat was home. A couple of registrars also came forward with anecdotes about years of working at the Grange and the countless weddings they performed. I like that a building can hold so many positive associations for a community and that my photographs have the potential to bring them to life. My exhibit of this project is still showing at Pelham House in Lewes until the 23 May. All my Southover Grange photographs can be found here.

Tag: Sussex