Northern light shines in new photography exhibition at York College

Anna, who creates her pieces using vintage camera equipment, is now showing a number of her atmospheric forest landscapes taken in locations across Scandinavia and Yorkshire, at the College’s art gallery.

Explaining the process of using a Victorian-era camera for some of her work, Anna said creating each photograph is a ‘very long process’.

“It’s the type of camera which uses wooden photographic plates rather than film, which sometimes means long exposure times and using a cloak over my head to keep out the light while I’m focusing the images. It typically means spending a long time in the forest but as a result you really get a feel for the nature and atmosphere of your surroundings: something I strive to capture in my work.

“The exhibition at York College brings together a number of projects taken in various locations over a period of time including Varmland in Western Sweden, the Vassfaret reserve in central Norway, and a research project, SelfScapes, at nearby Forestry Commission Dalby Forest in North Yorkshire. This is the first time that these pieces have been exhibited together and it’s really exciting to see them shown like this.”

Anna has held over 20 exhibitions, both in the UK and Scandinavia, since gaining a distinction in her MA at Harrogate College in 2012. A winner of the Vantage Art Prize, she has also received Arts Council funding via Sunny Bank Mills to produce the first Metamorphosis series in 2014.

Last year, she was selected to show pieces from several different series next to JMW Turner’s watercolours of the North, at the Force of Nature show, at the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate.

Reflections on Northern Light runs at The Gallery in York College from Monday November 1 until December 9, 2021.

To find out more about Anna’s work, visit her website, or follow on social media @annalilleengen on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.