LONGER READ: ‘We all need periods of solitude’ says Loch Ness photographer
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Drumnadrochit-based photographer Margaret Soraya tells Federica Stefani how the wild waters of Scotland can bring peace to one’s soul
At times it can strike you how much a woman’s voice can convey of her personality, and indeed landscape photographer Margaret Soraya’s soft and velvety timbre could have a similar calming effect as one of her stormy yet peaceful sea landscapes.
The Drumnadrochit-based artist, whose work has appeared in publications such as National Geographic Traveller, Outdoor Photography Magazine and Rough Guides is now the protagonist of a solo exhibition at the prestigious Bosham Art Gallery, near Portsmouth.
A display of Ms Soraya’s work on dramatic coastal landscapes, which well sits in a gallery on the sea, has found its place on the walls which had just previously hosted the work of the acclaimed black-and-white lansdcape photographer Michael Kenna.
After a first appearance at Tall Na Mara on Harris last year with the similar theme – Sea of Solitude – Ms Soraya said about this first main solo display: “It’s such a privilege even just to be asked to do a solo exhibition at Bosham, and especially just after someone such as Michael Kenna. It’s an honour for me.”
The exhibition, titled Quiet, displays the untamed waves of the Scottish Western Isles, a place dear to the photographer, whose technique smoothes the strength of the water, gifting the eye with a serene and peaceful landscape.
“The sea and the waves are much at the core of everything I do,” she explained. “I grew up in Manchester but, as a child, I spent my summer holidays in Holland by the sea, and it’s somewhere where I really loved being.
“When I am by the sea I feel so happy and so alive, and part of it is that in most places I go there is nobody around, so you get that solitude, and part of the effect is being alone.”
And solitude is, together with the sea, at the centre of the exhibition, bringing creativity out of this aloneness in quiet places.
This aspect is also at the core of workshops that Ms Soraya started running last year – photography retreats inviting participants to immerse in a world of wilderness and silence.
She said: “Landscape photography can be just a tool for getting you outside and have something to concentrate on, a tool for mindfulness and well-being, and just being outdoors can make you feel better - it really is that powerful.
“What I am trying to do with the retreats is to make it a bit more about being in nature, in wild places such as the Isle of Harris, Orkney and Glencoe.
“I feel really passionate about helping people who have something really genuine to share but struggle to find what they want to do or how to share it, and it’s really nice to see people find a style or discover that they can do it their own way without following preconceptions, like having to bring a tripod or heavy equipment.
“I have seen that women-only days sometimes work better. Women tend to be a bit worried about the technical side of stuff and this allows them to come forward with queries.”
Her love for travel, water and nature is intertwined with a passion for introverts, with a mission to show the positive sides of solitude and fight the stigma that surrounds it in favour of extroverts in the Western culture.
An introvert herself, she said: “I don’t think there is anyone championing aloneness and being out in nature and silence.
“We all need periods of solitude to restore body and mind. As the world spins faster and faster and we become immersed in technology, we need a variety of ways to cope with the resulting pressures.
“When you start to cut off from all this communication, all the shouting on social media telling you what you should be doing, then you can start to hear what’s really your own voice, and that can translate into your own work. I don’t think that people do it enough, and if they did, they would be able to find their own passion, rather than looking at what everyone else is doing.
“Mostly that’s what people do, they try to be somebody else. But you can’t find your style if you keep looking at everyone else.”
Quiet will be on display at Bosham until December 7.
More at quietlandscapes.co.uk
