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Hidden Depths, Laura Page, and Getting My Photo Taken

group: Six members of the Burntwood Spoonies pose together on a sunny day in front of Lichfield Cathedral’s ornate Gothic facade, featuring pointed arches and dark stone detailing against warm sandstone walls. From left to right: a woman in a vibrant pink floral dress smiles beside a woman with short grey hair wearing a wide-brimmed hat; next is MrsVark, seated in a black powered wheelchair with red accents, smiling warmly while holding a beige bag; beside her, an older woman with silver-grey hair and glasses rests her hands over her lap; then another woman in a black sleeveless dress holds a small blue handbag; finally, on the far right, “theaardvark”, bald with a long, vivid purple beard, wears a light-blue jacket over a white patterned shirt and grey trousers. The group stands against a low stone wall with dry grass behind them. All are smiling — clearly happy to be together in this picturesque setting under bright sunlight.

It's taken a while to get this blog together and posted, but I wanted to talk about an opportunity we had last month.

You know those afternoons where you can just tell it's going to be a good one before you've even rolled in? This was one of those. Could feel it in my bones (and that's saying something, given the state of them).

Big shout out to Denise Orton Brown from Creative Burntwood for sorting this for us Burntwood Spoonies with Lichfield Arts, and to Alex Clark-Michalek for being an absolute legend of a host. Access was spot on. Alex actually looked after us, no drama, no faffing about, just someone who'd clearly used their noggin and thought about what a bunch like us actually needs. That sort of thing matters more than people think. It's the difference between having a proper afternoon out and spending the whole time working out how the hell you're going to manage.

The exhibition was Laura Page's Hidden Depths, hosted by Lichfield Cathedral for the festival. And honestly, the Cathedral set the perfect backdrop. It's just one of those places that makes your brain go a bit quieter, even before you've looked at a single photo. Peaceful and contemplative. I could've sat there for hours just soaking it all in.

The photography took my breath away a bit. The portraits were shot during lockdown, so every sitter is in their own space, their own surroundings, not some studio backdrop. And you can tell. Character jumps right off the page just from how someone's dressed, how they're sat, what's around them. Half the story's told before you've read a word about who they are. I stood in front of more than a few of them longer than I meant to.

Then we got stuck in ourselves. Laura walked us through different types of portraits and showed off some of her own stuff, and  she was brilliant to listen to. Then it was our turn with actual cameras (not phones, but proper grown-up cameras. I felt dead posh). She talked us through trying different angles for a more interesting shot, and mine ended up pretty low down, which, to be honest, is just where my eyes are anyway. Turns out that's not a problem, it's just a different view. Nobody else was seeing it from down there, were they?

And then, the bit that's still got me buzzing, Laura took our photos for a future exhibition. Can't wait to see how mine comes out. Hopefully she caught my good side (if I've got one).

By the end, none of us wanted to leave. We could quite happily have stayed there all day.

With love, Sha 💜 aka The Wheely Happy Aardvark