Requiem for a dark time

Requiem for a dark time

Kate Lloyd 1

Artist’s statement Both my parents were painters, but I never had the patience to learn. I sought out photography as a means of expressing creativity but, I hoped, without the hard work.

For more than 20 years I have been taking photographs, starting with portraits of people, then evolving into an equine photographer in pursuit of another of my lifelong passions.

Noticing however that everyone regards themselves as photographer nowadays if they own a mobile phone, I wanted to differentiate myself.

Some early ventures into differentiation led me to create silk scarves from some of my images, and then evolved to abstraction.

Still learning, still growing, still being inspired by the skill of wonderful teachers.

Project Statement Lying awake in the small hours of the morning, haunted by the achingly beautiful music of both Mozart‘s and Verdi’s Requiem, the backbone of my photographic project came to me.

Music is important to me, both as audience and participant, and has always been a way for me to release and express emotion, and I find that certain pieces of music are particularly evocative.

In both Requiems, Verdi and Mozart, I find solace, allowing me to summon a specific feeling, or soothe away sadness.

So much has been lost in the Covid pandemic, whether individually or at a communal, national or global level, and so many restrictions have impeded a ‘normal way of life’.

It seems like a time of trial.

In reflecting on these times, we legitimately feel sorrow for ourselves, for our friends and loved ones and for our world.

Depicting sorrow is my theme.

Within that emotion there are sad feelings for oneself, for others and wider for the nation and the world.

Losses are numerous and varied, loss of freedoms is my starting point, loss of truth, loss of life, for some loss of livelihood, loss of hope.

Restrictions

The First Casualty

The Pale Horse

Liber Scriptus

Recordare

Benedictus

Libera Me

Resilience

Resurrection and Hope

Summary of images Title

Recordare

Restrictions

Benedictus

The first casualty

Libera Me

The Pale Horse

Resilience

Liber Scriptus

Resurrection