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Harrogate Advertiser



late May 2018

I am thrilled to have five images shortlisted for The Royal Photographic Society's International Photography Exhibition 161. All five are currently on show as part of my Of Life and Land exhibition at The Witham, Barnard Castle, DL12 8LY until Saturday 4 August.


May 2018

I am delighted to announce that my exhibition will be showing in York from 18 May - 16 June 2018. It would be wonderful to see you at the
Opening Reception
Saturday 19th May
2-5.30pm
Lotte Inch Gallery
10 Bootham
York
YO30 7BL

please RSVP to info@lotteinch.co.uk

In the words of Lotte: "Of Life & Land is a captivating photographic exhibition chronicling life in the Yorkshire village of Ampleforth. Featuring residents, both young and old, going about their everyday lives and work, the photographs are raw, honest and exceptionally beautiful.

Lucy has previously been shortlisted for several awards and in 2015 made the second round of the prestigious National Portrait Gallery Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Award with five images, including Coconut Slice (above).

“Visually and thematically beautiful”
LensCulture

"We share their humanity and they amplify ours"
Ian McMillan

With thanks to Andrew Dalton for curating the exhibition; Ryedale District Council for supporting the accompanying publication; Ian McMillan for the foreword; Joe Cornish for exhibition printing; Fotospeed for providing the papers and Sloemotion for the Hedgerow Gins...



January 2018

Lucy Saggers's images have the timelessness of cave paintings but, somehow, the modernity of Instagram. Here is a man following a flock of geese; here is someone standing by an empty bier. Here is a woman baking, and we know that the recipe is not in a book but in her head in the voice of her grandma. Here they are: they are us. We share their humanity and they amplify ours.

Ian McMillan, 2017
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'Of Life and Land' is a curated collection of photographs from my ongoing documentary project celebrating the rich textures and connections of traditional rural life in and around the village of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire.

The images capture ordinary moments, evoking the essence of every day life, work and stories of a community evolved from its landscape. 

Taken over the last four years, these photographs seek to shine a light on the sense of continuity that still exists in rural communities, and the way a piece of country is stitched into people’s lives, despite today’s fast-changing times.

I'm delighted to have received support from Ryedale District Council to produce a book, with a foreword by Ian McMillan, which will be available from Ryedale Folk Museum. Exhibition printing is on paper kindly provided by Fotospeed.
_________________________________________________________________

"Great photography requires devotion to subject matter. And yet you must also develop the craft that enables you to "channel" your thoughts, feelings, ideas and impressions of your subject directly through your camera. Lucy Saggers is such a photographer, a modern visual poet whose images give light to the people she knows and loves in the village landscape where she lives."

Joe Cornish, 2018


October 2017

Hello,
I really appreciate people's interest in my work - and would be delighted to hear from you if you would like to get in touch.

The Moorsview exhibition is to be held at The Moors National Park Centre, Danby between 19 October and 14 November. This is the final stop of Moorsview 2017, which has come from the Joe Cornish Gallery, Northallerton, having been considerably expanded for its new venue at Danby, in the heart of the North York Moors National Park. The exhibition celebrates the landscape and wildlife of the North York Moors. I am delighted that my work will be there in the company of the following, highly regarded photographers: Joe Cornish, Robert Fuller, Steve Race, Karl Holtby, John Clifton, Lizzie Shepherd, Peter Leeming, Richard and Janet Burdon, Dave Mead and John Potter. Also on show are wildlife sculptures by David Cooke. You are warmly invited to MEET THE ARTISTS on Saturday 21st October between 12 and 3pm. I can't promise that every photographer will be present, but I know that many of us will be, and it would be wonderful to see you there.

Commissions: I have been lucky to work on some great commissions recently, for both individuals and organisations.
Many of you will know the wonderful paintings of Lesley Seeger, who I had the privilege of photographing last month.
If you would like to know anything about the process of commissioning work, please feel free to get in touch.

Scott Creative Arts Foundation: I am excited to be working with the poet, Peter Spafford, as one of the artists documenting the first year in the life of the Scott Creative Arts Foundation. IMAGO - the first exhibition of the Scott Art Gallery - opens at Ornhams Hall, Boroughbridge on 28th October 2017, showing paintings from the last year of Michael Scott's life. For more information and opening times please contact jane@scotts-gallery.co.uk or see www.scotts-gallery.co.uk

of LIFE and LAND
My ongoing documentary work, 'of Life and Land', photographing the richness of people, places, landscapes and livelihoods of Ampleforth village, will be exhibited at the Ryedale Folk Museum Art Gallery (free to visit and open every day) 10 February - 25 March 2018. I am also working to obtain funding to produce a book of images from this project, to accompany the exhibition.

May 2017
Hello and welcome to my (late!) May newsletter. Your interest in my work is so appreciated - thank you, and please always feel free to get in touch.
Highly Commended at the Bowes Museum
The Bowes Museum hosted an amazing exhibition called 'Only in England', which featured the work of Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr. Alongside the exhibition they ran a competition called 'Only in the North'. I was very happy that my image 'Coconut slice' was Highly Commended.
Scampston Hall
The fabulous Scampston Hall Walled Garden Cafe is currently hosting 'Landscapes and Lives', my solo exhibition of 25 framed works plus mounts. On show is a mixture of landscapes and social documentary pictures, including 'Coconut slice'. Scampston Hall is on the A64, six miles NE of Malton. Open Tuesday to Sunday (plus Bank Holidays), 10am-5pm, and the exhibition runs until 18 June.
Scampston's Walled Garden was designed by Piet Oudolf - who went on to win Gold at Chelsea - and it is an absolute delight for young and old. There are places to hide, to run, to sit, as well as a plant stall selling really beautiful not run-of-the-mill plants.
I can also recommend the cafe very highly, in particular the cream teas....
MOORSVIEW
an EXHIBITION
of landscape and wildlife photography by Joe Cornish, Peter Leeming, Robert Fuller, Steve Race and me, at Joe Cornish Gallery, Northallerton from 12 August - 5 September 2017
a SEMINAR
by the same five photographers, at Kirk Theatre, Pickering on 9 September with proceeds to Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue.
For more information please have a look here: https://www.trailblazeroutdoors.co.uk/pages/moorsview
Commissions
I have been working on a number of commissions, including most recently for Helmsley Walled Garden.
I have a new 'COMMISSIONS' section on my website coming along, to show you the variety of work I do for other people - often artists and creative organisations.
One such recent commission was forDebbie Loane and Lund Studios, near Easingwold, whose picture has been adopted by North Yorkshire Open Studios, which takes place during the first two weekends of June.
Of Life and Land
My project 'Of Life and Land', documenting the richness of life in Ampleforth village, will be exhibited at the Ryedale Folk Museum early next year, and The Witham, Barnard Castle, next summer.
Herbert
Lastly, I am very sad to tell you that Herbert Fox gently passed away this week, at the age of 96. His wife, Betty, had cared for him at home. They were married for 62 years.


April 2017
Hello,
I wanted to let you know that three pictures have been shortlisted for the Food Photographer of the Year Award and, if you would like, you can vote for one of them (until Wednesday 5th April) by following the link here: https://www.pinkladyfoodphotographeroftheyear.com/peoples-choice-pink-lady-food-photographer-year-2017/. Thank you enormously if you can manage to vote.
The lovely Ryescape exhibition opened last week at Ryedale Folk Museum, details here: https://www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk/art-gallery/ and runs every day, 10-5, free entry until Sunday 21 May. The exhibition features beautiful, varied work from 20 selected Ryedale artists.
'Landscapes and Lives', my solo exhibition, opens on Good Friday in the Walled Garden Cafe (free entry) at Scampston Hall, details here: http://www.scampston.co.uk/DB/events-homepage/landscapes-and-lives-by-lucy-saggers and runs until 18th June.
I will also be showing work in Harrogate at the Watermark Gallery Spring/Summer Exhibition between 5-7 May. Further details here: https://www.watermarkgallery.co.uk/watermark-gallery-exhibitions/.
Lastly, tickets are available here: https://www.trailblazeroutdoors.co.uk/pages/moorsview for the landscape photography charity fundraiser, Moorsview, at which I will speak on 9th September.
Please do get in touch if you would like any further information.
Lucy x


March 2017
Well, happy days, February is behind us!
Since I last wrote, I was absolutely delighted to be invited to participate in The Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair, which runs for three days, beginning tomorrow, when I will actually be there - let me know if you can come! All my event details are below.
February has mainly been about working to capture more winter stories of Ampleforth for my ongoing 'Of Life and Land' project. I have included a few here, particularly for those of you who don't see them on my Instagram (or Facebook or Twitter!). 'At the village shop' caught my eye as I walked home from not photographing the 'Activity Class', cancelled on a chilly winter morning because the village hall heating had failed. I went back the following week to photograph this lovely group of women. 'Tom Wall with burr oak ' was a serendipitous moment when I was at the sawmill to photograph Tom's uncle, John, sawing some enormous, ancient burr oak trees. John had been called away and so Tom kindly jumped off the saw to show me this beautiful piece of burr from one of the huge oaks they had already cut. This size of burr is increasingly rare, because it is a product of several hundred year old, solitary oaks being disturbed over many years by grazing animals. Last, and so far from least, is 'Phil Thompson', our village plumber with tool hire service. The Thompson family have been recorded living in Ampleforth since the Domesday book, and I am most thrilled that his family feel this picture really captures him.
Later this year I will embark on the tricky process of selecting images for the project's first exhibition and a book, which will launch at the Ryedale Folk Museum (https://www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk/) https://www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk/, from February 2018. For now it is lovely to be making the work.
I am very grateful to Edge of Humanity Magazine for recently featuring work from my project, which you can see (amongst other fascinating projects) here: https://edgeofhumanity.com/2017/02/26/ampleforth/
EVENTS
3-5 March 10am-5pm (TOMORROW, SAT & SUN) The Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair http://www.hepworthwakefield.org/print-fair/, where Watermark Gallery https://www.watermarkgallery.co.uk/about-us/ will have a selection of my landscape work.
31 March-21 May Ryescape exhibition, Ryedale Folk Museum (http://www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk/) , Hutton-le-Hole, featuring artists from Ryedale, North Yorkshire.
14 April-18 June 'Landscapes and Lives', solo exhibition at Scampston Hall (http://www.scampston.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions) .
9 September Moorsview 2017 (https://www.trailblazeroutdoors.co.uk/pages/moorsview) Raising funds for local mountain rescue and wildlife charities with a day of talks on landscape and wildlife photography from Joe Cornish, Peter Leeming, Steve Race, Robert Fuller and me!
As ever, please let me know if you are interested in any images or more information.
Thank you so much for your interest. Lucy x


January 2017
Hello and thank you for your support and interest in my work last year, it means a huge amount.
I am really looking forward to 2017 with lots of plans and hopes. Here are details of a few.
The first event I am involved in is Ryescape at the Ryedale Folk Museum, 31 March to 21 May 2017, Hutton-le-Hole, an exhibition featuring artists from Ryedale in North Yorkshire.
In April, I have been invited to exhibit solo at Scampston Hall, where I will put on 'Landscapes and Lives', from 14 April (Good Friday) to 18 June.
In September, I will speak at Moorsview 2017 a day of talks from local landscape and wildlife photographers raising funds for Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue. I am honoured and a little scared (in a good way?!) to be talking alongside Joe Cornish, Peter Leeming, Steve Race and Robert Fuller.
I was selected recently for inclusion in the Art Connections Artist Directory, featuring current artists in York and North Yorkshire.
This year's main focus of work is my documentary project 'Of life and land', celebrating and exploring the rich textures of ordinary rural life in Ampleforth village. The project will culminate in a touring exhibition and book, launching at Ryedale Folk Museum in February 2018.
Please do get in touch if you would like any more information.
Lucy x


December
My last event of the 2016 will be the Teesdale Christmas Art Fair at The Witham from 8-20 December and open 10am-4pm Tuesday-Saturday, 3 Horse Market, Barnard Castle, County Durham, DL12 8LY.
I am also looking at holding some 'December Studio Sale' days here in Ampleforth...more details to follow.


September
September kicked off with the Great North Art Show at Ripon Cathedral where, until 25th September, I am showing pictures from my ‘Herbert and Betty’ series. There is a wealth of wonderful work on show from over 50 artists in the stunning cathedral setting…well worth a visit.
Tomorrow, Sunday 11th September, I have a selection of work at Hillside, West End, Ampleforth, YO62 4DY, which is opening its garden as part of the National Garden Scheme. All are welcome to visit this beautiful garden, drink tea, eat cake and look at photographs. I will be donating 15% of picture sales to the NGS, which raises money for nursing and caring charities.
Next week Watermark Gallery is taking my work into Weetons Food Hall in Harrogate, which is described as “among the top 100 shops in the world”. The photographs will hang from Friday 15th September until Halloween, alongside beautiful paintings by Lisa Stubbs.
From 5th – 19th October my new solo show ‘Rural Life’, curated and supported by Heidi Donohue, will be at The Courthouse Gallery at Rural Arts in Thirsk. For this exhibition I will be introducing some sound recordings alongside my photographs.
Finally for this autumn I will be at Art for Youth North from 15-22nd October at Baldersby Park, Topcliffe (between Thirsk and Ripon).


August
A quick summer news update.
I'm thrilled to now be represented by Watermark Gallery, and recommend having a look at their lovely website and also following their pop-up exhibitions and print fairs. The next exhibition will be featuring my work at Weetons Food Hall, Harrogate from 16th September.
Earlier this year, I had four pictures selected for Platform Open Exhibition at Morphets of Harrogate. The venue is a Victorian auction house, rich in character with wonderful bare boards and ornate plasterwork; Heidi Donohue's curation, plus live music, delicious canapes and fizz made the preview evening an absolute delight.
I am now working with Heidi on an exhibition to be held at Rural Arts Courthouse Gallery in October this year. Watch this space for further information and exciting developments....
Finally, I am very much looking forward to the Great North Art Show from 3-25 September at Ripon Cathedral, and the biannual Art for Youth at Queen Mary's School Topcliffe, 19-22 October.
I'm on holiday now until the end of the month, but please feel free to get in touch and I will get back to you as soon as I can.


May
I just wanted to give you a quick update for this month.
I had a great trip to the Mall Galleries in London to see the Finalist's exhibition of the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year Award, where my picture 'Coconut slice' was selected in the Food for Celebration category, from over 7,000 entries. It was a delight to be there, though champagne was my only prize ;)
If you are in London with an hour or two to spare, I would thoroughly recommend the V & A's Paul Strand exhibition, which is on until 3rd July.
If you are interested in seeing my work, I have a selection on show at Dalby Forest Visitor Centre, but hurry as you have only until close of play this Sunday 22nd May!
Finally, I'm delighted to say that I will again be taking part in Art for Youth North, the last show in 2014 raising an astonishing £30,000 for UK Youth. The exhibition takes place at the beautiful Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, with a private view on Wednesday 19th October and the exhibition running from Thursday 20th to Saturday 22nd October 2016.
Lucy


April
I am thrilled to announce that my picture has been selected from 7,000 entries, to be in the final exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London later this month in the 'Food for Celebration' category of the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year Award 2016. I will be going down to the finalist's reception on 26th April for the exhibition preview and announcement of the winners.
In other news, I have a collection of work currently showing at the lovely Dalby Forest Visitor Centre. This will be on until 20th May 2016.
If you would like to enquire about buying a print or commissioning some work, please do not hesitate to get in touch on contact@lucysaggers.com or 07899 977 199.
Enjoy spring!


December
Thank you so much to everybody who came along to 'Evocations of rural life' at Helmsley Arts Centre and supported the exhibition so strongly with your comments and purchases. It was wonderful to have my work in this thriving venue, where, being so local, it really seemed to resonate with people. It also looked lovely thanks to the beautiful job Julia, Joanna and Mike did hanging the work.
I am happy to say that this month I have some work in Lazenby Visuals, a new gallery located in one of Helmsley Walled Garden's craft units, so if you are in Helmsley for Small Business Saturday I would recommend a look! The Walled Garden and Craft Units are also holding a special Christmas Evening on Friday 11th December 5-7pm to which you are all very welcome.
I'm currently working on my pictures for the Kunsthuis exhibition 'Zwart-Wit', which opens on Wednesday 13 January and runs until Sunday 20 March. The Private View and Movie Night on Friday 15 January is a wonderful opportunity not only to see the work, but also the film 'Finding Vivian Maier'.
Thanks, as ever, for your support. Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions or requests - I'll do what I can!


October
It's been a busy few months...
I loved my second Open Studios (back in the summer). Thank you to all the brilliant people, who visited, talked, shared, bought pictures, cards and calendars - you made it.
It was, however, very sad to hear that Mr Todd died suddenly in early June, after a brief illness. I will always be so grateful to him for allowing me to photograph all the goings on at his poultry farm. I am sad to say that the farm has now closed forever.
I'm now busy preparing for my first solo exhibition 'Evocations of rural life'. This will be at Helmsley Arts Centre, which I am delighted about, as it is at the heart of the area I am so passionate about photographing. The exhibition will preview on Sunday 6-8pm and be open from 3rd to 27th November (Tuesday and Sunday 11am-3pm; Wednesday-Friday 10am-3pm).
I will have a large selection of landscapes as well as my rural life pictures, in a mixture of old favourites and new, previously unseen work.
Please do come along if you can.
Lucy x


June 2015
Well I WON - Craft Photographer of the Year at a wonderful preview evening at The Prince's Foundation in Shoreditch.
I'm now in the thick of Open Studios, have had a fabulously busy first weekend and really look forward to welcoming many of you to my Open House/Studio next weekend. There is constantly flowing tea, coffee and home-made cakes. Bring a friend, your family, whoever you think might enjoy a very informal time in my kitchen and sitting room, looking at pictures and chatting.
I'll be back soon,
Lucy x


May 2015
Last week, I was delighted to see my picture, 'Bringing in the geese, Ampleforth' at the Mall Galleries in London for the finalist's reception of the
Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year Award 2015
I was even more thrilled to find out that I have been voted
Heritage Crafts Association Craft Photographer of the Year 2015
You are all warmly invited to the finalists' exhibition:
8-14th May 2015
The Prince's Foundation
19-22 Charlotte Road
London EC2A 3SG
9am-5pm (closed Sundays)
FREE ADMISSION
Finally, I am busy preparing for North Yorkshire Open Studios
You are all very welcome:
6/7 and 13/14 June 2015
(please feel free to ring and plan a visit outside these dates)
Ford End House
West End
Ampleforth YO62 4DU
I loved doing this event last year and really look forward to this year, when there will be two more fabulous artists in Ampleforth opening their studios. I will send more details nearer the time.
Please do not hesitate to be in touch if you need any more information.
Lucy x