About
Stephanie Lightbown
Stephanie Lightbown lives and works in Scotland but travels further afield for the source of her inspiration. Working as an artist, photographer and educator creativity and individuality are the driving forces behind her work.
She travels extensively to search for the specific type of wilderness, this in turn enables her to explore the types of terrain that are unique to that environment. Her main focus is the abstraction of the land. She photographs within the specific environment, observing the detail of the physical features and geological structures, therefore making it possible to exclude the visual information which makes the location recognisable.
Occasionally, it is necessary to give viewers a clue to the major features of the environment. However, subtraction is always part of her visual language and process, often giving a minimalist quality to her work. Removal of the colour focuses attention to the texture and form within the image and is a key element of the post production process allowing for the wide range of tonal qualities inherent within black and white photography..
The creative possibilities of photography have allowed the exploration of specific subjects that have a unique cultural identity only identifiable to the place where the photographs were taken.