Creative Freedom

BeaTa MooRe

I have never liked to define my approach to photography in great depths because it feels quite limiting. I enjoy capturing and creating an eclectic mix of photographs and relish the freedom of expression that comes with it. I embrace both, the classic photography with its black and white roots and colour photography, as well as contemporary abstracts firmly anchored in a digital world. My vision is continuously evolving thanks to constant learning and experimentation. I never think about my photography as ‘I have arrived’. It is a creative journey full of twists and turns.

My interest in photography started when I was a child. Growing up, there were always cameras at home and I used to photograph anything and everything. In my teenage years, I developed my first black and white films and the magic of images appearing on paper made me pick up the camera more often.

At first, like many people, I was driven by a simple desire to travel and photograph the views around me. However, over the years, my interest in nature has grown and, as a result of this passion, I have attained a postgraduate degree in botany. I believe that gaining an intimate knowledge of the natural world helped to show my affinity with nature in my photographs. Colour encapsulates perfectly the harmony of our environment and the character of seasons, so most of my landscapes and nature images are in colour.

Soon into my photographic career, I established a preference for seascapes and waterscapes, but also a fascination with human ingenuity in creating architectural masterpieces. I am particularly drawn to the subtleties of smaller details of landscape and architecture providing me with endless patterns, shapes and textures. I am a keen observer of detail and my close-up photos are mainly taken with a 150mm macro lens; occasionally, I use a 12-24mm lens predominantly for landscapes with dominating foregrounds. However, most of my images are taken with a 70-200mm lens. This lens allows me to flatten the perspective, making the images more dynamic, isolate smaller details of the surrounding world and zoom in on less accessible areas. It also opens up a world of endless patterns and shapes that are hard to notice with wider lenses.

What attracts me to intimate landscapes and patterns is that they are everywhere and, most importantly, they are unique.

I work mainly for three different industries: publishing, stock photography and fine art. My generalist approach to photography suits all three perfectly. The goal for me, however, has always been printed publication – it is the ultimate realisation for me. Cooperating with various publishers has resulted in publishing five coffee table books and two visitor guidebooks. My eighth book, ‘Photographing Surrey and Sussex’ is currently in the design stage, to be published later in the year. Having a book printed is immensely satisfying. I am always full of anxiety and insecurity in the final stages of design and production, but, at the same time, the experience is highly fulfilling.

The classic black and white approach suits two subjects that I love, the sea and architecture. To achieve visually striking black and white images, I concentrate on shadow and light, and on textures and contrast. These create my favourite dramatic noir look, a dominant feature of my ‘Sea Fury’ series. I have spent most of my summer holidays by the sea, so water is the most natural environment for me.

That’s where I feel the most inspired. From the moment I saw the very special image taken by Jean Guichard in 1989, ‘Lighthouse in a Storm at La Jument’, I promised myself that one day I would be taking images of the sea at its worst. Atlantic waves in Portugal, where I travel twice a year, definitely deliver a lot of excitement, but a little bit closer, in Sussex, the Newhaven harbour is a truly special place with crashing waves accompanied by a muffled roar and the muted clatter of pebbles knocking together.

Black and white also suits well my vision of architectural photography. Some places, like Bilbao or Venice, are simply made to be photographed in monochrome. I was sixteen when for the first time I stood on Accademia Bridge looking towards Santa Maria della Salute and thought that it was possibly the most romantic view in the world. It still is, but at present I am more preoccupied with alleys and fast dilapidating houses, all forgotten by tourists. It is not, however, only old towns and buildings that I am fond of; I embrace with equal passion modern buildings. When metal or bare concrete integrate seamlessly with glass, the results can be truly fascinating, opening up endless possibilities for photography.

Art is about personal expression and the pursuit of photographic creativity and inspiration is obviously different for everyone, but the basis for each of us is the same: to grow. As a result of this need, many artists change their preference of subjects and styles over time. Every day I acquire new knowledge and new skills, so not only do I develop in general, but also my photographs evolve and express my latest personal preference. I avoid using the term ‘style’ in photography, as I find it very restrictive. Also, style lasts so long, before it appears dated. That is why I reject its restrictions and, instead, I concentrate more on series of images. Series are interesting, as they tell a story and allow artists more flexibility, without being pigeonholed.

Nowadays, the line between traditional and contemporary photography thankfully is becoming blurred, and recently I started to seek ways to bring to life my more contemporary work. It is a direct result of years of challenging myself with new photographic and digital techniques and experimentation. While working on my latest abstract series, half of me reaches to the dreamy world of romantic painters and the other half is firmly anchored in a digital world. I like these types of images as they leave room for imagination instead of feeding a more literal scene. Multi exposures, on occasion I push the boundary of reality by creating total abstracts where subject no longer matters; it is all about light, colour, lines and patterns and an ideal format for such images is a square. It fits better because of its great symmetry, quality of stillness and the rather difficult to explain ‘neatly boxed’ feeling.

ICM or blending layers allow me to create images that are not physically accurate but portray the essence of a place.