91Èȱ¬

Common Yew

Cath Evans is lovely and if you ever get the opportunity to meet her you should! TheÌý semi-professional photographer lives with her family in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and when she's not making ends meet at a local data entry firm she’s wandering around Pitsford Resevoir in the early hours of the morning waiting for the first rays of sunshine to hit the dawn mist.

From a brief career in television production and,Ìýneeding something to do after travelling to New Zealand and Australia in 2002, Cath decided that life as a photographer was for her. She is so modest about herself and her work that I practically had to scold her for not putting a biography on her website.

Winner

When we met for a quick chat she told me she hated all that "I won a photography competition when I was three years old" clap trap. There's nothing worse than hearing a 'pop star wanna-be' waxing lyrical about how they started singing when they were two. But, there’s something to be said for telling the world that one of her photo's had just won second prize in the Royal Horticultural Society Competition. The fluid trunk of a Yew tree was her subject and the stripy bark looked like sumptuous folded purple fabric.

Common Red Poppy

Her portfolio of work is organic, stunning landscapes of places you didn't know could look so beautiful and Cath finds it frustrating when the general public believe real beauty can only be found in other countries.

Indoctrinated by the glossy editions of National Geographic it could be seen that the good old British Isles have little to offer the landscape photographer but the stunning prints of Northamptonshire's reservoirs and countryside open our eyes to the possibilities. But to get these shotsÌýyou have to be prepared to set your alarm for 3 O'clock in the morning.

Cath explained that from her home in Brixworth she can open her windows and look out at the countryside, finding the right moment to run out and capture the scene.

Wheat Field, Holdenby

Traditional

Cath is a traditionalist: she works entirely with transparency film explainingÌýthat the quality is far higher than conventional film or digital, unless you're prepared to spend £7,000 on a decent digital camera. On the question of digital manipulation she gave me a resounding "NO! You end up spending too much time in front of the computer and not with your camera."

I mentioned that the 'Yew' photograph seemed highly contemporary for a traditional photographer. It stands alone as an artistic composition rather like a abstract painting.Ìý "I think photography is up there with art, it can show what the world is really like. But there is some art I just don't like, I don't understand it! Maybe it's jealousy that photography is not yet accepted by all as an art form!" said Cath.

**2008 Update**

Four years on, and Cath now works digitally. "A camera was produced which captured a better quality image than I could achieve using my film camera. The method of capture is still the same; the only difference is that there is no film in the camera". Her images are now taken using a professional 17MP digital SLR camera.Ìý

Now a self-employed professional landscape photographer, she is still based in Brixworth, and supplies images to a variety of agencies including Alamy and The National Trust.ÌýCath is one of only 300 accredited National Trust photographers in the UK and is very proud of this achievement.ÌýMost recently she has put an exclusive collection of images with local company, Wall Inspirations, who provide high quality bespoke art work for the home or office.

This year, Cath independently produced an A3 scenic Northamptonshire calendar for 2008 (Northamptonshire - The Rose of the Shires).Ìý"Ever since I can remember, I have been disillusioned with the calendars available for Northamptonshire, so this year I decided to do something about it.ÌýI put a lot of work and money into producing a high quality calendar which showed off the beautiful scenery of Northamptonshire which is often overlooked."ÌýIt was well received but she had many problems getting it out into the market place.Ìý"Having had only a limited number printed, my production costs were still relatively high which caused problems when approaching retailers who had to take their percentage.ÌýThis figure was often too high to even cover my costs so the calendar didn't make it into as many retailers as I had hoped, and as a result, I have struggled to make my money back. I hope the retailers who supported me this year will continue to do so if I decide to produce one for 2009!"Ìý

Most recently, Cath has moved into fine art photography with the launch of a fine art gallery on her website which has an exclusive collection of limited edition images. Prints are available as beautifully finished mounted and framed pieces of artwork or as contemporary canvas prints.Ìý"We now have two family businesses working together as my mum mounts and frames my images and provides this service to other people."

Cath produces a range of high quality hand made photographic greetings cards which are currently available from her and La Boutique in Brixworth.ÌýThey feature a selection of landscapes, flower and aviation images.ÌýAll her images are available to purchase as high quality fine art prints.

You may have met Cath at one of the Craft Fairs held across the county last year. These were a mixed success but she will be returning to those held at Sywell Aerodrome later this year.

Her work has been featured in the Chronicle & Echo and she has been interviewed on 91Èȱ¬ Radio Northampton.

Current exhibition

Her first solo exhibition of fine art photography is now open in the art gallery at 78 Derngate Northampton, The Charles Rennie Mackintosh House & Galleries.ÌýThe exhibition runs from 1st February - 30th March and entry is FREE.ÌýThe exhibition includes both open edition and exclusive limited edition art work featuring beautiful local landscapes and atmospheric coastal images.

Through the links at the top right of this page, you can see a gallery of Cath's photographs. More examples can be found on Cath's own website.