Description
For the past 12 years I, Theresa Sarjeant, have been photographing and printing work for a talented mix of Sydney artists. It’s a technical job that naturally flowed on from my long-held love of photography and my Photoshop skills, developed when the software was in its infancy and I was looking for a creative outlet while raising young children.
My interest in photography first emerged about 40 years ago – my ex-husband’s father was a professional photographer, and I learned a lot from him. I don’t have any formal qualifications but have taken many photography courses over the years. A favourite course was in the US with Bruce Barnbaum, whose images are in the same vein as Ansel Adams – both of their work looks for the play of light on the landscape.
Around five years ago I participated in a Canon photography challenge and started experimenting more seriously with my own images from then on. I especially love black and white photography. I sometimes switch my camera to the black and white setting so I’m not distracted by the colour and can only see the light.
Many of Bruce Barnbaum’s photographs are of large rock formations, which are random shapes and are likened to a ‘symphony of light’. This is something I am trying to achieve with my work – I’m creating random shapes and it’s the randomness of the light falling on the fabric that hopefully captures something beautiful.
I, Theresa Sarjeant, love not knowing what I’m going to get each time and find the process playful – it gets me away from the technical side of my everyday work and allows me some freedom to have fun.
