Leah Carvell

Broadway Spotlight: Leah Carvell

Leah Carvell is a Hertfordshire-based landscape portrait artist who contrasts her interests in nature and ecology with the use of her phone as her camera. Through the lens, Leah looks to capture a natural stillness for herself and her audience, creating peaceful imagery that allows for a moment of solitude within the busyness of our daily lives.

When did you first become interested in photography?

I got into photography when I was in school and then I decided to study it at university. I studied at the Kent Institute of Art and Design, now called UCA. I found out quite early on that I wasn’t very interested in the technical elements of photography. I’ve found ways of making photography work with very little equipment. I work with whatever is on me at the time which is generally a phone now a days. It’s easy and accessible. I do quite a lot of scanning, printing and rescanning to edit my images and change the scale. At the end of the day, as long as I get an image it’s a success.

What are some of the main ideas and concepts behind your photographs?

I’m interested in the concept of time and timelessness. For example, one of my photographs is a picture of myself lying on a wall of flint. This was quite a new thing for me as I don’t tend to be performative or put figures in my work. I usually actively choose places where there’s no real sign of anything but the natural. But I was really interested in this flint – this benign rock that’s a pain to farmers. Flint is almost time itself in the form of a rock. It has so many different layers that have formed over an unthinkable amount of years and this was just mind blowing to me. In the photograph, ‘Flint Bathing’, I became a layer of time as well by laying with the flint. Obviously, it was really uncomfortable! I feel like the images that I make, there’s a presence in them, almost like a timelessness like it doesn’t matter when it is or what era it is.

Another example of exploring the concept of time is my image ‘Mother and Daughter’. It’s an image of two trees: a small one and a large one. It was taken in Lancashire in an area that’s famous for witchcraft. We happened to be there a few years ago and stumbled upon these two trees on a walk. There was actually a famous mother and daughter in the area that were tried as witches, so I saw the two trees as symbolic of this. Now, this image has taken on more importance as I’m now expecting a child myself. Throughout time, the meaning and importance of the image has been on a journey with me also.

Why do you think you’re attracted to creating that type of feeling within your work?

I like stillness and I think I crave it through my work. Stillness is hard to find day to day and, generally, we’re very busy as people. I’ve felt as I’ve gotten older that I need to be still. Working through my phone, quite often I’ll sit with an image for a long time and then go back to it after a few months and remember the stillness I felt whilst taking the photograph. So, in a way, I use my photography as a way to find stillness but to also relive it.

When choosing a subject for your photographs, is it more intuition than intention?

Yes. I think you can see something and obviously think it would make a great picture. But, for me, there’s something else about the things that I see. I just get a feeling that an image is right. I might go out and not come back with anything because nothing has felt right. So, I think intuition is a big part of it.

I don’t always have a great conceptual reason for choosing an image. I don’t want to call my photography therapy, but you can take a photo and then feel a bit better after it .

Your images are primarily in black and white, why do you choose to create in this format?

When I was younger, my Dad was into photography and had loads of books that I would just pick off the shelf and look at. One of the books was by Faye Godwin who was a black and white landscape photographer during the 60s and 70s. Her work is almost exclusively black and white and is very lyrical. There’s very little human images – just really beautiful landscapes. I think I’ve realised recently how much of an influence her work has been, so perhaps that’s a reason why I prefer black and white images over colour. The black and white also encapsulates the stillness I’ve been trying to create in my work. I find it generally more soothing to look at than a coloured photograph.

What do you want your audience at the gallery to take away from your work?

I think if people just look at it, then that means a lot to me. I hope my work offers that stillness and a moment of peace. I mean, I often don’t read captions in galleries because I don’t necessarily need to know what’s going on. People will inevitably bring their own interpretation and that’s what people will take away from the work ultimately. If someone enjoys my work then that’s great.

What’s your relationship with The Broadway Gallery?

I work at a school and discovered the gallery through a school trip. I think after that I looked online and followed the gallery on social media. Since then, I’ve been in a few of the Open shows and have begun volunteering at the gallery as well. I think the space is great and we’re really lucky to have it in the area.

What does the future hold for you as a creative?

Having worked in a school that employs an art therapist, I’ve been really inspired by the cathartic nature of creating art and the importance of having a creative outlet. I’ve gotten really interested in art therapy and would really like to explore that as a career and professional goal, because I do see how that can work through my own visual practice, also. I think that’s what art is, ultimately. I also want to continue to do what I do and continue to find stillness through my practice. And it’s a massive bonus if it gets printed and goes on a wall!

Leah’s work will be displayed in the Broadway Gallery from 7 February – 2 March 2024.