The Flowers of Seven Sisters

So, I have decided that I should tell you more about myself and my photographs. I already have an image of the week slot on my socials but I try and keep that short and sweet. This is where I will muse a little longer about the photographs and what they mean to me.

I gave up doing weddings and portraits and went back to working Mon-Fri 9-5 and enjoying my free evenings and weekends. A few years later I had to give that up due to ill-health. That was January 2020. I lost my mum to Covid and said goodbye to two other family members as well that year. It was a really, really tough time.

My coping method was walking. And walking. And walking. I started taking photographs of things that I saw out and about. First on my phone, then on a small camera that I could hide in my pocket so that other walkers wouldn’t judge me but then finally on my wedding cameras. My self confidence was in the basement and I couldn’t talk to anyone, generally I couldn’t even make eye-contact, but being outside just helped me relax.

My husband works at sea and frequently needs to refresh survival and firefighting skills. He signed up for a course in Newhaven and invited me down to Sussex for the duration of the course. We stayed in a small hotel in Seaford and I would drop him off in the morning and wander around the countryside until it was time to pick him up.

It was August and as luck would have it, the weather was wonderful. Here was a whole new world for me to explore, and boy did I! On my first day I found the Seven Sisters. I decided on the high path, through the long grass (and away from most of the tourists) rather than the path along the river. I was blessed with finding pale blue butterflies and tiny snail shells, I spent 20 minutes trying to photograph some of the house martins that twisted and twirled through the air.

There are many places from which to photograph the Seven Sisters Chalk Cliffs, they are truly iconic. But, my favourite image is this one: The flowers of the Seven Sisters. The cliffs are imposing and completely dominate the area, and thousands of photographs are taken of them on a daily basis I’m sure. I try and see the whole of the world around me and not just the big stuff that’s why my portfolio contains landscapes and seascapes, wildlife and objects. I thought the wild flowers were dainty and colourful and felt they looked absolutely perfect with the big imposing cliffs as a background.

So, why am I telling this story? Or starting with this image? Walking into the hotel bar with two huge cameras does attract some attention and the hotel owner and staff where curious and interested in my photographs. It took some doing and a lot of persuading by the Hotel owner, Simon, and my family, but finally I believed that my work was good enough and this and other images hang on the walls of the hotel. I have had a number of sales from there.

Really, this is where the gallery started really. Buoyed on the success there, when I went for lunch at a coffee shop and I saw the little summer house that would become my gallery.