Why Longmoose?

 

 

Why not? An interesting word containing 'moose'. Which is loosely relevant to how I like to describe my photographs. Taken from the name 'Longbeake' - which I invented ten years because it made my then surname sound more exotic. Fabulous!

 

About Longmoose

When I tell people that I'm a photographer, the first question is usually 'What do you photograph?'. What a hard question. I derive an unexplainable pleasure from recording the daily life around me, to the forgotten and obsure in far away places.

What I've displayed here is a self indulgent collection of all my favourite photographs, of no particular theme, from many years and many locations around the world. I generally see no joy in going out to take photographs of something specific. That rules out spontaneity and magical weather conditions. However it is fun to take your cameras and lenses out and about whenever possible to capture the unexpected. The forgotten. The grimy, the shiny, the sun and the faces of those around. This is no good however if you are in company that tires easily of your endless stops, and exclamations of surprise on viewing a piece of colourful litter lit romantically by the setting sun as it floats around in an oily puddle. Oooh no. Which is a shame, as they can often deflect your strange behaviour from puzzled passers-by. It's a fine balance. I have wonderfully tolerant friends.

The book that woke me up to photography was a collection of brightly coloured abstract photos taken in the American Southwest. Photography as art? (Yes I know Steiglitz caught onto that a hundred years ago, I'm slow on the uptake ok?). That book showed me a new way to 'see'. I love it.

I'm reluctant to say I have favourite photographers, as that immediately references a certain style. But William Egglestone certainly is the first name to come to mind, his hard-to-find books are prized treasures. I won't try to describe what I enjoy... that is done in the galleries on this website.

I live and work in Bristol where I studied photography over a series of City & Guilds courses, gaining a distinction and therefore an LRPS. I have been lucky enough to have several exhibitions in Bristol over the last ten years.

I hope you enjoy the website we have built!

 

Lisa Bique LRPS