Friday Inspiration: Sal Taylor Kydd

Frog in the Hand

I’ve been enjoying looking at Sal Taylor Kydd’s photographs in the last couple of weeks. Her work really resonate with me. Home, family and nature are themes that are very present in Sal’s work, the importance of these to me has become heightened over the last year.

I was fortunate enough to get a copy of her book ‘Just When I Thought I had You’ that combines images of her children on Deer Isle with her poetry. In many ways it reminds me of how my kids spend their summers – outside in nature catching frogs and toads and doing all kinds of other fun stuff.

Take a look at the book in the video below.

I was interested to hear Sal’s description of her father, a chemist who collected vintage cameras. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that she is now playing in the darkroom and making platinum palladium prints of her work.

I was also drawn to the fact that Sal is making books as a way to complete her projects. These are either with small presses such as Datz in South Korea or hand made by Sal. I think the book is a perfect vehicle to complete projects and especially so for the intimate subjects that Sal has turned her camera towards.

Check out more of Sal Taylor Kidd’s work on her website here and hear her describe her work in the video below.

Friday Inspiration: Cig Harvey

I’m sure you, like me, have heard that a picture is worth a thousand words but I’m increasingly of the opinion that a picture and a few words are worth more than either alone. Words can not only serve as a starting point in the creation of images but also serve as a more accessible entry point for the viewer.

There are few people that I can think of that pair words and images better than Cig Harvey. As I was thinking about this topic I decided to revisit her website and see what she’s been up to since 2012’s ‘You Look At Me Like An Emergency’ and was pleasently surprised to see that she has a new body of work ‘Gardening at Night’ that will be released in book form in the spring.

Check out Cig talking about her process – I love this comment ‘Postcards provide answers, photography and art ask questions’ and there are many more – in the video below.

Friday Inspiration: Cig Harvey

My first experience of Cig Harvey‘s photography was the image above which ran as a cover for Maine Magazine. It made me pick up the magazine, which I absolutely love, but also gave me an reason to dig deeper into Cig Harvey’s work.

Cig Harvey was born and raised in Devon in the South of England and now divides her time between Boston and the coast of Maine. Her personal work seems to me to tell the stories of what’s going on in her life and includes a number of self-portraits, many of which show case her collection of vintage dresses.

To hear Cig speaking about her work, process and inspiration check out this video .