| Real Nature | Pictures by Liz Stanley Wycombe Swan Circle Gallery 18 – 31 July 2005 |
If you fancy bringing a piece of the natural world into your home, why not visit Liz Stanley’s "Real Nature" photographic exhibition at the Wycombe Swan Theatre this July. For as she explains, her pictures are truly natural, almost accidental and full of personal memories. Liz, 23, first came to High Wycombe in 1999 to study for a degree in Film and Drama production at the University. After a short stint back in her native Midlands, she returned to Buckinghamshire to take up the post of Press and Publicity Officer at the town’s Swan Theatre, where you will see more of her photographic work in the programmes and season brochures.
 | | Liz Stanley |
Liz says that she feels her debut exhibition of photography captures nature at its purist. They are unique images that she has just stumbled across on travels around the country, which show an insight into the natural world. Affordable And with prices ranging from £5.00 upwards, the artwork is also affordable, as Liz believes that art should be accessible for all and shouldn’t have a huge price tag hanging from it. “I’d like to think that I am the Ikea of photographers” she says. “My work is stylish and affordable and nature is my designer. I just happen to be the big blue and yellow building! “I wanted to afford art when I was a student, and still do. So I thought I would try and start a trend.” But it’s not the Swedish furniture superstore that Liz takes her artistic inspiration for pictures of the natural world from. That’s much closer to home. “I like people like Bill Oddie” she reveals. “He takes the wildlife we see everyday in the British countryside and turns it into an adventure. It’s truthful and real and he has become a great inspiration to me. | "My work is stylish and affordable and nature is my designer. I just happen to be the big blue and yellow building!" | | Liz Stanley |
“Kids need to get out of the house and look around their back gardens” she continues. “They’ll see ugly creatures and beautiful creatures. I think the sea is a great place to find this. There is a green sea creature in one of my pictures. It’s butt ugly but fantastic to look at!” Accidental art And it is this feeling for the natural that permeates her work. She says that she doesn’t go looking for pictures or wait for something to happen – most of them happen by accident. “I go to the countryside and places of natural beauty because they are exactly that – natural beauty and it’s on our doorstep: she says. “I don’t visit them to find the perfect picture, most of the time I happen to have my camera on me, sometimes I forget my camera and use the camera on my phone. I don’t go to find a picture – I usually just stumble on it and that’s what makes them unique.”
 | | Stone |
“I have some pictures of swans” she continues. “They were taken on a very rainy day at the Rye on my way to work. “Another picture is of a sunset at Druidstone, Wales” she adds. “I was on a course there through work and it was the last morning. Everyone was in bed with a hangover but I woke up at 6.00am. I snuck out and went to the cliff tops. I nearly got blown off the cliff taking it but when I see that photo, that’s what I remember, that morning and the day that followed. This is what pictures should be about. Not waiting for something to happen. “As much as I love the work by artists such as Andy Goldsworthy, its still nature that has been played with and contrived and this is what I’ve stayed clear of. “When I look at my pictures, I remember the day, who I was with and what I was doing. I don’t remember what my camera was doing.” Personal The beauty of Liz’s work is that the natural pictures are also taken with basic equipment and she passes her low production costs onto the customer.
 | | Druidstone sunrise |
“My Fuji film camera cost £100 two years ago” she explains. “It has no filters or additional lenses and the only adjustments I have made are to create sepia and black and white images. I did this at Jessops for heavens sake, which just shows what you can do with a basic camera! “And that why it’s the price it is” she adds. “I’m not a fan of people who raise the price of their product because it’s ‘art’ and then make a 1000% profit on work that cost them little to produce.” For Liz, selling pictures so filled with personal memories is bound to be a wrench, but she says that for it to be art – others need to appreciate it. “The work is there to be enjoyed and taken in whatever way the gazer wants to perceive it” she says. “Isn’t that is what art is, to create a reaction? I could sell these pictures for more. They are valuable to me and have my own personal memories attached to them. But it would be a great feeling to know that someone is enjoying my picture on their living room wall.” See Liz's Real Nature Gallery using the link on the right-hand side. | 
