Claire uses the technique of photomontage to explore a sense of the places and spaces that surround us. She is particularly fascinated by coastal towns, many of which have now drifted into a quieter, more sleepy existence since their hey day in the middle of the last century.
Claire photographs these places on days out and then returns to her studio to create a memory of the place. She aims to create a more intense sense of the coast than perhaps a photograph alone could do, by layering, juxtaposing and editing the original photographs in much the same way as we combine and edit our memories. In doing so she creates a new scene, which is familiar but different.
Slightly surreal in places, the ambiguous use of space within the images adds depth to pictures, which at first glance seem straight-forward.
Her passion for colour and texture, inherited from a background in Textiles result in rich and poetic images, which hopefully tap into memories or ideas of the coast that are more common to all of us.
Claire lives and works in Kent.