Jill Crossley Beyond Looking

ArtHere Exhibition Space 2013

Weavings and shapes of common plants and bushes where I live are objects of close scrutiny. These simple abstractions offer a calm and contemplative view of both the complexity and simplicity of natural forms.

My main experience in photography has been in the commercial sector, the last fifteen years of which were spent freelancing in areas of portraiture, magazine and book illustration, artworks, crafts and sculpture for artists, and commercial and regional galleries and publishers.

During this time my personal interest lay in black and white work. Giving up my darkroom on retirement occasioned a change from expression in black and white that I always processed and printed myself, to the more readily available commercially processed work in colour, work requiring no technical manipulation.

For this exhibition I have returned to black and white using a small digital camera with a zoom lens of limited range. To dispense with the bulky gear and tripod of larger equipment allows one a greater spontaneity and a better opportunity to explore subjects from awkward and restricted viewpoints.