ROBERTS, Hilary [HER]
I have been involved in photography for about thirty years. I am a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and share the distinction of Master of the International Federation of Photographic Art with less than two hundred people worldwide.
These days I see myself as an image maker rather than a photographer
because there is often a lot of manipulation involved – or, as I call it, fiddling.
My main objective is that people looking at my images feel good – about
themselves, about the world, about life. I sell my pictures to enable me to support a severely disabled little boy in Cuba and all proceeds are used to fund this project.
My work is very diverse and amongst other subjects I enjoy flowers, people, nature, architecture and landscape – and I particularly like to produce unusual and amusing images.
My pictures come from this country and all over the world – and from my home studio. I look for beauty, strangeness, striking colour, amazing texture or the perfect light.
I spend days, sometimes weeks, removing unwanted elements, adding others and applying different, often ‘painterly’ effects to enhance the finished image.
The main reason I sell my pictures is to support a little Cuban boy called Eddy. He contracted meningitis as a baby. Although he recovered, he was left very severely disabled. I visit Cuba every year to take vital medical equipment for Eddy which is not available in Cuba. I travel with a friend, who takes more medical essentials for children in hospital. The money I raise from selling my pictures funds my part of this enterprise.