Light & Land
Astrid McGechan
Astrid is a freelance photographer and book author based in Surrey. She started to seriously engage in photography, when struggling to juggle the demands of family life, motherhood and a stressful job. Spending time outdoors and photographing became her way of balancing life.
Initially, Astrid photographed almost exclusively landscapes, drawing her inspiration from scenes in the natural world that evoke a sense of tranquillity and harmony. Often, she’d be drawn towards the less obvious details in the landscape - such as shapes, patterns or a particular colour – making them the primary subject of her images. More recently, Astrid has become fascinated by street life and architecture and has spent time photographing in cities in the UK and abroad.
Astrid uses a variety of techniques to capture her response to a scene and recreate it for the viewer through her photographs, such as long exposure, camera movement and deliberate defocusing. She loves exploring new cultures and feels equally compelled to capture the beautiful evening light by a lakeside, the strong graphic lines and reflections of city architecture or the essence of life and countryside of new locations abroad.
In 2014, Astrid published her first book The Elmbridge Hundred – A Visual Journey, which was a companion piece to a community project about the history and heritage of her local Borough of Elmbridge. Astrid has curated several art exhibitions and judged photographic competitions, such as the UK Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. She teaches and lectures on photography and works on commissions for individuals and organisations. Her images have been published and widely exhibited in the UK and Europe, including the Mall Galleries and OXO Gallery in London, and are held in private collections in the UK, Europe and the US.
