A Traveller's Tale

‘A Traveller’s Tale’, an exhibition by photographer Cairney Down, featuring striking images taken in Europe, North America and Asia.

For Cairney, taking photographs makes travelling more memorable. “When we go somewhere new, we look with fresh eyes; we are alive to new senses, open to new opportunities, alert to new experiences. My camera allows me to slow down and to explore. It gives me time to see; too often we look without seeing. We do not have to travel far to do this; often we can do this on our doorstep. However, in the past few years, I have been fortunate enough to travel to several far-flung places including Montana, Vermont and Wyoming in North America and also to Bhutan, China, Egypt, Jordan Mongolia and Nepal”. Explaining how she selects an image to record, Cairney adds “It is often the light, the shape, the colour and form. Sometimes it is simply a quirky image that has caught my imagination or a detail”.

Cairney’s serious interest in photography only began about six years ago. Although not formally trained as a photographer, her visual art training started at the Central School of Speech and Drama in the early 1980’s. “We were taught to look at the quality of tone and light in paintings at the London galleries as part of a practical understanding of lighting design”. After studying Drama at Bristol University, Cairney worked in Newlyn Art Gallery in the mid 90s and also studied Art & Design in the Modern period at Falmouth College of Art. Since 2004, she has attended numerous workshops on location with leading UK landscape photographers.

Cairney now creates digital images but says, “I do very little ‘post-processing’ work so the images in the exhibition are those which I saw with the camera”.

On Wednesday 10th February, there will be a chance to meet Cairney and find out more about her photography when she presents a free gallery talk in the museum auditorium. Her talk, ‘Mongolian Odyssey’ will explore the spectacle, diversity, romance and culture of the land and people of Chinggis Khaan. Talking about her time in Mongolia, Cairney says “For me it was an epic journey which began in my imagination when I was still a young child and my parents received a postcard from a family friend which read “Greetings from Ulaanbatar”.

For further details and to reserve your place, please contact the museum reception desk on 01235 771447. Space is limited so advance reservation is strongly recommended.

Dates

Exhibition 9 Feb 2010 - 20 Feb 2010

Meet the Artist 10 Feb 2010

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