Languedoc seen through Kim Hall’s lens

Brexit victory in the EU referendum last month provides an unplanned backdrop for the next exhibition at Zoom Arts Warrior Square station gallery, when self-confessed Francophile Kim Hall presents photos of the landscape of the Languedoc region. Zoom previews its next exhibition.

Photographer Kim Hall is the next Zoom Arts exhibitor to take over the gallery space at Warrior Square station in St Leonards. Entitled Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, her show will run from Monday 11 to Friday 15 July.

A self-confessed Francophile, Kim’s acquaintance with the Languedoc region of France began in her childhood and has grown and matured into a full-blown love affair. The exhibition will be showcasing a selection of her own photographic work taken over the years that illustrates the rugged and raw beauty and history of the French landscape.

“Subsequent to putting this exhibition together, the UK decided upon Brexit, and I must admit that the cord which ties me to my little pocket of France that I am familiar with and that I adore, seems to have been frayed a little, and that saddens me,” Kim says. “And so this selection of work seems so fitting just now, to remind us of how beautiful our EU neighbours are.”

The exhibition also features Kim’s Sunprints, which she began creating on holiday in France and has continued to develop and contextualise with local flora and fauna.
“Whilst on my travels one year, as an experiment, I explored using sunlight as an
alternative light source for exposing images, just like photograms are created in a
darkroom,” she explains. “From this simple experiment my Sunprints were born, and now I enjoy using the local natural flora and fauna to create contextual images of a place and its landscape Using these natural objects appeals to me with their pattern, lines and consistency, perhaps a juxtaposition of my usual chaotic existence!

Sunorint: Phare de la Coubre.

“The images they leave behind are a preserved record of the negative form of an object that will not last in its natural state and nor can it be seen by appreciating the natural object itself but is held for the short term in the blue hue of the Sunprint; a perfect reflection of the Languedoc skies!

“As I also now have my own darkroom at home, I have particularly enjoyed embracing black-and-white analogue photography and exploring its use within the natural landscape. Without the distraction of colour it is much easier to appreciate the patterns and forms that exist in our natural world.”

Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité Exhibition of photography by Kim Hall. Zoom Arts Warrior Square Station Gallery, Kings Road, St Leonards-on-Sea TN37 6HL. Monday 11-Friday 15 July, from 10.30am-3pm.

Zoom Arts

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