Our most recent Zoom presentation showed what can be done with creative photography.

Our speaker, Margaret Soraya who is a photographer, artist and writer, showed that you can take two of nature’s harshest elements, strong winds and wild stormy seas and create some very gentle, soft images.

Margaret’s photographic ethos is that photography should be fun.  She says that her techniques are not, necessarily, technically “correct” and she will experiment with styles and letting go of what society assumes is a supposed to be the right answer to creating an image.  This could be using long exposures, intentional (or un-intentional) camera movement or other techniques.

Margaret said that she tends to decide what she wants from her photos and then works backwards to how she will get that, rather than find the scene in front of her and work out what she can get.  This is helped by her living on the Isle of Harris with its well-known beaches, that can look almost Caribbean on a good day, wildlife etc; Margaret added that the advantage of living so close to her main photo subjects is that she gets to know the area and what combination of tide levels, winds, storm clouds etc will make the kind of images she is wanting to make.  Although she is in a place where making great images is a bit easier than, say, Potters Bar, one element of Margaret’s presentation was that you do not need to travel to exotic locations, but get to know your local area and make the best of that.

An engaging presentation given in Margaret’s self-deprecating style (despite being a multi award winning image maker) and definitely an enjoyable meeting.

Isle Of Harris Artist Margaret Soraya