Curious Wanderings

Maureen Douglas-Green presents a new body of work in her fourth solo exhibition of photography at Harbour House, and there will be a free Gallery Talk on Saturday 5 May.
“Curious wanderings take me through my life. The natural curiosity of a child has never left me; always wanting to see what’s around the next bend, over the next hill, in the dip of a hidden valley, behind a wall, through a keyhole, under a stone, over the bridge, or just ‘in there’. I delight in following those journeys, from the broadest landscapes to the minutiae of plants and animals, seeing patterns in everything, seeing mathematical influences, seeing clichés, and finding reasons that I didn’t realise I needed to know!
For me, the rule of a good image has always been that it has to take your ‘seeing eye’ on a journey. You have to be able to move through an image. Sometimes that journey will be rapid, sometimes slow, sometimes continuous, sometimes arrested by unexpected details that capture the curiosity and the imagination.
Cameras travel everywhere with me. They have got me into so many interesting situations. They have taken me along paths I would not have dreamt of following and they have been my bridge of communication. I have spent an increasing amount of time in Brittany, and the necessity to explain what photographs I would like to take has worked wonders for my French.”
Maureen has held exhibitions in Brittany, as well as carrying out work to commission. An ongoing project involves recording in minute detail the steps and hand movements of traditional Breton dance.
Fascinated by the relationship between performer and instrument, Maureen has also photographed Breton street musicians, while back at home she continues her involvement with the photographic recording of a variety of musicians. Her work can be seen in publicity for Devon Baroque, and she has worked with Daughters of Elvin, Kevara, Simon Cassell, Mike & Kate Westbrook, and at Hannah’s, with talented young musicians at Seale Hayne College.
“Wherever I am, curious wanderings take me off the beaten track, discovering, for example, the joys and sadness of rural life. Recording the demise of once thriving farmsteads and small communities in Brittany has proved to be a reflection of similar stories in parts of the UK: an intensive photographic visit to Snowdonia in October and my frequent forays into the countryside of the South West whilst looking for different, unusual locations for another commission for scenic calendar photographs has illustrated this.”
Maureen also remains passionate about botanical subjects, and 2011 saw her second long-running and well-received exhibition at The Garden House, Buckland Monachorum. She has since been invited to give talks in Tavistock and Kingsbridge.

Continued demand for Maureen’s work has led her to explore the technicalities of modern processing, production and finishing, and she now takes full control of all aspects of the process from camera to gallery wall.

For more information visit http://www.harbourhouse.org.uk/gallery-MDouglas-Green12.html