Photographing Surrey and Sussex by Beata Moore

Photographing Surrey and Sussex by Beata Moore

Over the next few weeks we are going to introduce several of the author-photographers who are working on fotoVUE photo-location guidebooks.

• click on an image to get a slide show of photographs •

First is Beata Moore who we signed up a couple of months ago to write and photograph the photo-location guidebook Photographing Surrey and Sussex.
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Beata is an accomplished author and photographer who has authored seven books, a diverse selection that includes The Square Mile – A Photographic Portrait of the City, Cracow City of Treasures and A Year In the Life of the New Forest and amongst them is The Channel Islands which was listed in the Top Five Coffee Table Books in 2011. Her work regularly features in the photographic and general media.

Beata has exhibited at the OXO Gallery on the South Bank and currently exhibits at On Landscape’s First Light Inspired Exhibition at the Joe Cornish Gallery in Northallerton.

We asked Beata a couple of questions about her fotoVUE title and what she has been doing recently.

What is special about Surrey and Sussex for the photographer?

Both, Surrey and Sussex are beautiful and varied counties. The Surrey Hills, the South Downs as well as the High and Low Weald all boast a traditional landscape of rolling hills, wooded hillsides and interesting waterways. Combined with vibrant market towns, picturesque villages and historic country houses, it makes these areas ideal to explore and photograph. Additionally, the coastal scenery of Sussex, from Chichester to Rye is varied and enchanting; here one can find marshy estuarine landscapes, old harbours, Roman remains, ancient castles, bohemian seaside resorts, iconic chalk cliffs, dunes and endless beaches.

What have you been up to photographically recently?

I am currently busy organising a group exhibition that will take place in spring 2018, as well as interviewing photographers in my editorial capacity for Terra Quantum, a website launched with the ambition to gather the most beautiful pictures of our planet.

In March, I was invited to take part in the exhibition First Light Inspired at the Joe Cornish Gallery. It was a great honour and true pleasure to exhibit alongside four fantastic photographers, Julian Calverley, Harvey Lloyd-Thomas, Matt Lethbridge, Baxter Bradford.

I am also working on two personal projects, one of which focuses on a subject very close to my heart – the sea. I hope to create a selection of impressionistic images with expressive fluidity, influenced by the paintings of Turner and demonstrating a spirit of freedom that the sea epitomises for me.

The second project is centred around a city of my dreams, Venice, and is a sentimental journey, starting when I was sixteen and stood on Accademia Bridge for the first time, looking towards Santa Maria Della Salute. Quite possibly, the most romantic view in the world in my opinion. This amazing city is sinking slowly and my goal is to create a lasting record of its less known alleys, squares, canals, bridges and fast dilapidating houses shrouded in the famous Venetian fog, which gives the city an eerie, yet romantic atmosphere. Hopefully, with time and a lot of hard work, both projects will be turned into books.

Both projects, however, will have to be put on the back burner for a while, as I have started working on Photographing Sussex and Surrey, a challenging yet exciting book. I live on the doorstep of Surrey Hills and know this area intimately and the Sussex coast in particular, is one of my favourite locations, just a short drive from home. I have been exploring this part of the world for many years and there is still plenty more to discover.

It goes without saying that we are very proud to be working with Beata. You can find out more about Beata at her website beatamoore.co.uk and follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/BeataMoorePhotography