Chichester show will be career highlight for photographer Kate Lloyd

Water, Water Everywhere – But Mostly Venice runs from January 22-February 4.

“So far although I have exhibited my images it has been at craft fairs or contemporary art fairs. While this is great, the idea that I could have a solo show is new to me and helps to allow me to believe in myself and start to feel that my work is worth showing to other people.

“It's all too easy to be crushed by the widespread idea that ‘photography isn't a worthwhile artistic pursuit'. Many gallery owners seem to look down on photographers, and it's always a disappointment to encounter this negative attitude.

“The idea behind the exhibition is to show people that fine art photography can be as interesting as painting, and the skills involved are not just a click of the shutter. The use of multiple exposure and intentional camera movement to create abstractions is something a bit different and the appearance of hidden colours in the process of blending can be a total surprise. Some images are realistic, others are abstractions.

“For those who know and love Venice it’s a chance to spot the places they know and bring back memories, hopefully happy ones. For those who don’t know Venice it’s a chance to see a place they might like to visit and to share my love of the place. There are also some small images taken of sea scenes in the West of France. Small boats, way markers and ancient-style fishing huts. Or, maybe since the fishing nets are often full of holes, are the huts really just another type of man-cave!”

Kate added: “My parents were both painters but I didn’t have the patience to learn and thought photography would be equally fulfilling for my creative juices. It has proved an endless fascination with constant learning and a great excuse for foreign travel. Influences include the most obvious painters of Venice, Canaletto and Guardi and two particular photographers, Jonathan Chritchley and Valda Bailey.”

As for the exhibition: “In addition to sharing my love of Venice I am hoping people will enjoy the abstractions and have fun looking at the images and trying to work out what's going on. One of the abstract images I refer to as 'the long stay/overnight parking for gondolas'. Before I found this place it never occurred to me that gondolas have to have somewhere to park and maybe other people have also not thought of that. Recognising a few familiar shapes in the abstracts, for example the front of the gondola, which is called Il Ferro which translates as the sword, can give people an idea of some of the components which make up my fanciful notions of Venice.

“In addition to the Venice series there are pictures from France and England. In the French series, as well as the fishing huts, I have a picture of the oyster beds in the Bassin at Arcachon. This is an amazing area, where oysters are grown to supply many of the top restaurants of Europe. The mouth of the Bassin is almost closed off from the sea, but not quite so there is a tide which reveals and hides the oyster beds in the normal cycle of the tides.”

​Until February 4.