Time out in the Shed: a cup of Tea with Tricia Scott, our Artist of the Week

We had a virtual cup of tea with Tricia, our Artist of the Week, to find out a bit more about her, her work, and what drives her love for photography. Please feel free to respond with any thoughts or feedback by commenting, at the end of this post!

Smugglers Haven

Tricia Scott

What first drew you to Photography?

I’m not exactly sure, it has fascinated me from early childhood … I remember how I always had my eye on my mum’s cherished box camera and how thrilled I was when I got my first camera, a Kodak Brownie 127 at age 10.

What is your favourite photographic memory?

How proud I was to be able to photograph the Duke of Edinburgh with my father, shortly after getting that Brownie 127 – I still have the photo. My father was Skipper on a Lowestoft trawler that was selected for inspection by the Duke.

Rusty Porthole

Tricia Scott

Who is my favourite photographer and why?

I can’t say that I have a particular favourite as the diversity and creativity of photography is infinite! However, two photographers that I admire greatly are Ford Jenkins and Herbert Ponting.

Ford Jenkins was a local photographer who captured the very essence of the Herring Fleet in the 1950’s which followed the Herring round the coast of Britain, arriving in Lowestoft each year around October /November. Each Sunday would find me down at the harbour from dusk to dawn, watching the fleet go out, returning to land their catch and then watching the women, heads deep in the barrels, packing and salting the fish.

Ford Jenkins

Herbert Ponting’s work is awe-inspiring. His photographic journal of the Scott expedition to the South Pole is brilliant from team photos to capturing the stark beauty of Antarctica in the early 1900’s when taking and developing photos was vastly different than the ease of digital imagery today. The sheer magnitude of lugging the equipment and glass plates from pillar to post and keeping them safe is mind boggling.

Herbert Ponting

What would be your ideal camera and where would you take it?

The latest top of the range professional Canon would be ideal, but only until the next bigger and better one came along!! I would take it to the same place I would like to take my present camera – both the South and North Poles.

Tell what you enjoy most about your own work, and what has inspired you recently.

The thing I enjoy most about photography is its portability. No matter where I am or where I am heading, my camera is always a welcome companion. Out of hundreds of photos it is finding that something unexpected in a photograph that you thought to be an ordinary shot that excites and inspires me.

Do you have bursts of creativity, when and where are you most creative?

Yes most definitely. I have always been drawn to the sea and it is what energises me when I find myself unmotivated and generally feeling low. I love the sheer power and beauty of a stormy sea and it is where I feel the most creative. The sea, coast and marine life offers me an unending source of photographic opportunity.

The Journey

Tricia Scott

What are the most important elements of a successful photo?

For me a photograph has to tell a story. For instance, when I am shooting old derelict boats, an abstract section of layers of peeling paint, a section of rusted metal, and/or the textures and contours of the weathered wooden frame it will trigger my imagination as to what untold adventures it could tell.

Tell us about your favourite photo.

My favourite photo is always the perfect but elusive one I ‘take’ when I have left my camera at home! You can never recapture the magic of that particular moment no matter how hard you try, and that to me is the true magic of photography – capturing the moment.

Sea Worn II

Tricia Scott

Thanks for sharing this Tricia, it's great to get to know a bit more about you and your relationship with photography.

To see more of Tricia's work, please visit her Shed Profile! And feel free to pop by our online Shed Shop too, where all Tricia's work is for sale, along with that of all of our Shed Creatives!