Photographer of the Month- Sarah Veness
Sarah Veness was thrilled to win our ‘Festival’ photography competition in August 2013, which came in the nick of time as she was about to put on her first photography exhibition in her local library.
Sarah was able to get some great panoramic frames with her vouchers, which were the central photos in the exhibition. As it was a fundraising venture and money was tight, it enabled her to have a greater variety of photos than she had originally planned.
Her winning festival photograph was taken at the Northampton Umbrella Fair this summer. The photo conveyed an essence of colour; Sarah feels this is a big part of any festivals atmosphere.
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“Photography takes me out of myself and makes me more outward looking. It would be so easy to just give in to my physical and mental limitations and shut myself away and think about the things I can’t do.” |
Why Sarah got into photography
As a small child Sarah was fascinated by the ‘magic’ of photography, this stemmed from her great uncle allowing her to go into his darkroom with him. Even before she had her first camera, one of Sarah’s favourite games was taking imaginary photos using a cardboard box that had a cellophane window in it.
Fortunately, Sarah’s parents noticed this tendency and eventually she was given a camera! As a very visually aware person, Sarah tends to notice the minutiae of life. She attends her village camera club and is always teased when others are taking wide vistas and she is photographing something tiny.
Over the years Sarah has maintained her love for photography by taking shots for her church magazines. However, following a head injury and stroke, Sarah had to give up her job and is no longer able to drive. She rekindled her interest in photography due to not wanting to sit around and do nothing.
As Sarah now suffers from short term memory loss, she contacted the Alzheimer’s Society and is now an active member on their Talking Point forum where she loves sharing her photographs.
Sarah’s Photography Exhibition
Sarah’s photography exhibition was called ‘Blue Sky Thinking and Beyond’ where she has raised £400, which has been divided between The Alzheimer’s Society and ‘Heartcry Compassion in Action’. Sarah is also aiming to raise money to buy a new computer for her church’s ‘Step Up’ project. This specifically aims to help the homeless and disadvantaged.
What Sarah enjoys about photography
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“I love being able to portray the beauty of nature and present it from a different viewpoint. Whilst trying to get more exercise, I take my camera and post images on Facebook that have caught my eye.” |
Sarah also likes to inspire and encourage people through her photos. She helps to run a paper crafting group called ‘Scrap and Yap’ where she helps others to make cards and scrapbooks.
The Panasonic Lumix FZ45 is Sarah’s favourite choice of camera, as it is lighter to carry than an SLR. She loves the quality of the lens and the flexibility of options that this camera offers; this camera was used to take the winning Festival shot.
Plans for the future
Sarah has booked an exhibition space for October this year and has just started writing a book on how to make memory books for people with dementia. She hopes for the book to be published by the end of the year.
To find out more about how to make memory books or to see more of Sarah’s work check out her website here.
After hearing of Sarah’s love of photography and her work with charities, we felt she deserved the title of photographer of the month. If you would like to be featured as our photographer of the month, enter our latest photography competition here to be considered or email us at marketing@frame-express.net
