Meet the artist: Mark Hemsworth
Mark loves the natural world. For Captured Moments, he wanted to document how landscapes change over time, both across the day and throughout the year.
Walking in all weathers
Teaming up with local photographer John Blythe, Mark spent the past year revisiting particular sites to capture the best images:
My photos show the trees and the changing of the seasons.
I went to Abbey Meadows in Abingdon and Boars Hill.
He took thousands of photographs, which have now been assembled according to colour and composition to create a timeline.
Mark says his favourite part is the images of Oxford, going from light to dark:
It makes me feel proud and I feel good about it.
Mark’s advice for someone who wants to get into photography is:
It takes time to get good photos. You need to get a decent camera – I use a Canon.
Shadowlight Artists’ Naomi Morris created a behind-the-scenes film of Mark’s process which you can watch here.
Shadowlight Artists
Shadowlight are a group of artists with learning disabilities, based in Oxfordshire. Their works include paintings, sculptural installations, photography, films and theatrical productions. Mark has been a member since the group formed in 2009.
Captured Moments also features work from Shadowlight member, Lucy Skuse. Lucy works with video and installations. Her film explores her relationship with her hometown Didcot. The footage was filmed on a range of different cameras from an 80s VHS camcorder to a modern 4k camera.
Both Mark and Lucy’s works have previously been featured at arts and film festivals across the globe, including Oska Bright, Supernormal, Abilities Festival Toronto, NFT, and Together! Disability Film Festival, as well as on broadcast TV and online.
The exhibition launched with a special preview party on Friday 4 November, where guests could meet the artists.
Mark gave a short talk about the project and how he achieved the images.
The gallery’s next ‘Meet the Artist’ event is on Friday 18 November from 2pm to 3.30pm.
Captured Moments is on display at Modern Art Oxford from 4 – 27 November. It is free to attend and no booking is necessary.
Shadowlight Artists are supported by Film Oxford (charity), and Captured Moments has project funding from Arts Council of England.
- Jenna Lloyd is Senior Content Officer for United Response.