In this years OAW I will be showing some of my more "playful" work. To me the print is all - it is the final part of the photographic process. Leaving photos on computers and phones is only part of the work. Once I have the print I enjoy working further with it so that it becomes a tactile and physical product to work with. I like to play with the camera and the image to give depth and intricacy to my work, I also like there to be some intrigue and l use layers, paint stitching and more in order to make meaningful and conceptual work to draw the viewer in. I have also used mirrors, liquid and light when photographing my still life work which is on show in this exhibition. Although my photography doesn't always look like photography I don't use Photoshop as I prefer to do the work with the camera - that is my tool. With my images you always need to take a second look - not all is what it seems.
“If you understand my photography, then you’ll understand me”.
Born in UK 1963, Rachel is an award winning photographer working with a variety of cameras and techniques to respond to and illustrate her response to the natural world. She studied at Central St Martins and in 2018 received her M.A in Photography Art from the University of Westminster. Her practice concerns itself in the interplay between ourselves, land and nature addressing the issues of life, death, and decay. Her instinctive and visceral reaction to our interlinking life cycles with the natural world is often described as a delicate and poetic.
The art curator Alona Pardo chose her for newcomer of her graduating year saying that her work is ““hinting at a dark undertow while also alluding to the harmony and connection between self and nature”.
Rachels work is held in private collections and has been shown nationally and internationally in solo and group shows in London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Korea. She is frequently published and is also a writer and researcher in photography.