I started photography about twelve years ago, attending an evening class in GCSE then A Level Photography, moving on to teach Photography for Adult Education.  I enjoy photographing natural objects, close ups in particular, and became a National Trust photographer, lecturing on flower and garden photography at Standen, a National Trust Arts and Crafts property in East Grinstead where I have a permanent exhibition.

More recently I began concentrating on my interest in dance, trying to capture the spirit of the dance – that elusive moment in time that conveys the emotion within the movement. In particular I like to use Polaroid film to make image transfers and emulsion lifts on watercolour paper or silk, creating individual works of art which enhance the mood or movement of the dance.   I also use Polaroid transfers and lifts to print my photographs of fine art nudes and flowers, and enjoy the flexibility of the medium.  Unfortunately Polaroid has now stopped making the films I need to use, although I still have a few out-of-date boxes left.  I will really miss this, my preferred medium, and have explored the use of other alternative processes such as cyanotypes through workshops with Terry King FRPS.

I gained my Associateship with the Royal Photographic Society in 2004 with Polaroid emulsion lifts of dancers.  I held a solo exhibition of dance photography at Trinity Arts Theatre in Tunbridge Wells in 2004 and my work has been accepted for exhibition in National Photographic Exhibitions.  In 2005 two prints of nudes were selected for the London Salon Exhibition which aims to exhibit ‘photographic work in which there is distinct evidence of artistic feeling and execution’, and in 2006 two Polaroids of dance were accepted by the Salon.

My work has been published in photography magazines including Photo Technique, Practical Photographer, and Amateur Photographer.  In September 2004 Amateur Photographer published a five page article on my use of Polaroid materials.  My work is also shown in the February 2007 Photography Monthly magazine as a guide to using an alternative process.

In June 2006 I took part in South East Open Studios, and in July/ August exhibited in Henley Exhibition Centre with two colleagues.  I am a member of Il Laboratorio, a group of alternative process photographers including Terry King FRPS, and in October 2006 I took part an exhibition of their work at Fairfield Halls in Croydon.  In January and February 2007 I held a solo exhibition at Ripley Arts Centre which is home to Bromley Arts Council. 

Since 2008 I have been visiting Shoreham Beach with my husband, and taking photographs of the plants, the seashore and more recently the windsurfers.  The images of windsurfers on the website include those taken by my husband, Stephen.

I have just discovered www.blurb.com and am starting to make books from my images.  My aim is to produce a personal library of different types of images, including my polaroids, and also to make some of the books available publically through blurb.

©The copyright of images on this site belongs to Lesley Ormrod ARPS or Stephen Ormrod LRPS.  No duplication is allowed without permission.