“In 2023 Our Big Picture was proud to launch the Womens Photography Collective, a supportive and inclusive network for emerging women photographers that supports development in the contemporary industry by creating positive change across the Humber region.
Stories of Water is a lens based exhibition by the collective, in response to an open call brief exploring our collection to the water as a coastal community, featuring work from 7 photographers;
Anete Sooda
Ellie Coulson
Emma Gibbon
Gee Maddison
Holly Stottor
Lena Sass Hughes
Milly Nixon
“
Source: https://ourbigpicture.co.uk/whats-on/stories-of-water/
The commission knocked on my emails in spring 2024. When we still curled up in post-winter mystery and, me personally, reconfiguring my work life.
The involvement in the commission and continuing being part of Our Big Picture is the creative incentive I really needed at the time.
My story around the commission, how I created my final photograph and the process from start to the end is [in my head] complex and important [to me] to say out loud.
Water is such a big word, with various meanings from a feeling, to a dietary requirement, to a disaster and complete bliss. So where do you start?
Where do you start thinking about water, when your creative button is popping out of a cardigan that’s too small, a metaphor for work things getting too much?
But I had to find a way. If the collective wants my involvement, I must have it in me, somewhere.
In late spring I was battling my new era of being fully self-employed, adapting and reconfiguring my needs and musts. It wasn’t a strange path, I was in the game for 8 years . But this time it was in industry that is seasonal, unpredictable and unforgivingly is all about fast turnarounds. I never entered the industry to make it part of my usual practice, but I had to embrace it, make it work.
The good thing always was that I was free to roam my days and I figured that I can use this flexible schedule, to flexibly look after my artistic ego. One day of not making real money won’t make the black whole blacker.
OBP allowed us to be free to create, no restrictions, no guidelines. and as all the photographers didn’t meet prior to discuss, we were all just creating from our own creative depths, no influences.
For me water is seaside. Or a lake, even a pond. That’s how I grew up in my peasant ways that in all reasonable temperatures, water is your friend. Or even off season when the winter is cold, the seaside is peace. The drive to seaside can be as magical as the actual visit. Seaside is universal term, most of us are familiar with it, though for some water is privilege. All of this above was my thinking process. Photographically seaside, however can be a challenge if you want to really nail it and bring something unique that is true your practice. It is weather permitting, lucky chance or something completely off the track unexpected. The options are endless. But I wanted simplicity.
Another aspect that crossed my mind that this should be a soul journey. All the snippets of ideas I had in mind was involving another person, more planning, possibly props and precision in timing. But I just didn’t have that in me. And the question was: when was the last time I took time for myself to create?
Third: lately my eye was drawn to double exposures and apart from few years ago playing with double exposures with 35 mm film camera, I haven’t really touched upon since university.
Little bit off track, but the late spring was full of daisies and on my outings I gazed with dreamy eyes at them, and the day I planned my shoot day for the commission I also swam in daisy sea and made a daisy crown, so the whole day was for me. I needed to multitask and I literally nailed it, memorable day that was.
Sea, myself and double exposures.
Sea was rubbish (I haven’t checked the tide times), it was very windy and sea just didn’t look attractive. It was like any other day. I desperately snapped away from the cliff, hoping for miracles. I did some self portraits facing the sea, but I could see anything that could work. I walked away towards the village not impressed. I found a green green grass field and decided to have lunch and think about life, admire my daisies and figure out how to salvage this day.
I laid on the green green grass staring at the blue blue sky sun kissed and then the epiphany happened. It is the feeling that we are after: the glow on the skin from sun, the salty and gritty feet after a long walk down the beach barefoot. We are connected to these elements by a feeling. Our sensory receptors are skin, eyes, nose, ears.
There is a whole other story of trying to work out what a double exposure requires, I had to dig deep in my slack memory to figure out that it needs dark space. And the none existing remote control on my Canon made the shooting hard work.
Long day, I felt, but I spent good 6 hours with myself creating. Or trying. I was 70% sure I have something, plotting my emergency shoot day for just in case. The drive home was filled with couples holding hands walking around Cleethorpes, getting stick on M18 and being a little sad about personal stuff, but I just thought its one day in my life.
All this above is important for an artist, if I ever dare to say I still am, you have to be with the moment and work with the feeling at the time. I knew that at the end, when I see this story at the exhibition, my work on the wall amongst other photographers, and months later writing a blog entry about this, it will all be worth something. It is good, life is good.
I look at these and I like it. I like the simplicity that I achieved by persistence and little hope for success and pulling this together in a right way.
I also had the big honour of having my photo on the poster, and I think the curators did a good choice, it spoke to the theme well.
The exhibition
To those whoo have been to the Our Big Picture Space in Grimsby, it is small, cosy, full of character, but also a lot like a mouldable canvas. All the previous exhibitions have proven that. Also the magic hands of curators to make the best of the space and allow time to look at each work with “breathings space”.
Seven different stories of water. I earned the window spot and Emma Gibson alongside Ellie Coulson got the shop window view.
The thing I mentioned at the beginning of this post of us seven not have any brainstorming sessions together, somehow brought this exhibition together under the water umbrella, and it worked really well
The gallery is located in almost the heart of Grimsby, bustling bust top just outside, so not only the planned visitors come in, the passers-by help themselves into the exhibition, which is nice, the door to the gallery and welcome to consume art is very accessible.
The scale and location of the exhibition tells me that it all matters: big scale, small scale, London or Grimsby. Being part of this was very important to me and who don’t like a proper picture [see below]
Thank you to Our Big Picture for the ongoing friendship and support, what you do is important. Big thanks to Abbie Jennings, the curator and creative soul sister for always being so supportive and thanks to the lovely photographers/artists involved for the meet up.
I am still here
Love
Anete Sooda Photo
ANETE SOODA PHOTO 