Kate Beatty is a photographer based in Birmingham, in this post she speaks to Best Believe about her work, influences and current projects.
Winner of the Move Me Award 2008 and Fuji Fashion Award 2001, Kate’s influences range from traditional reportage like Henri Cartier Bresson and Dorothea Lange to the more challenging and diverse work of Zed Nelson and Nadav Kander. Kate seems genuinely charmed by the people she meets and captures them in a truly sincere and compelling way. Her many commissions have enabled her to meet people from all walks of life whilst giving her the opportunity to travel to America, Cuba and the Balkans.
I draw inspiration from real life the people around me, city living and country air at the same time. I am a big people person, love meeting people, talking to them and photographing them too!!! Another big inspiration is music – helps feed into my creativity!
Kate understands what it is to work in a culturally & geographically varied region like the West Midlands and has a portfolio of work and clients that reflects this diversity, ranging from the NHS – a campaign photographing staff and patients, to a project with the BBC and young people in Telford to an exhibition inside a cattle market capturing local market goers.
I have just finished working on the Chamberlain Awards – a Birmingham City Council initiative. It’s an amazing job as I am spending 1/2 a day with people from all walks of the council ranging from dinner ladies and park rangers to top lawyers who are changing anti-social behavior laws in parliament.
Educational work ranges from BBC and The secret City Project and more recently Creative Partnerships where I have been working along side a visual artist and animator to explore the theme of science in primary schools. It’s incredibly inspiring working with primary school age as they are SUPER imaginative and creative.
Her personal work is a mixture of reportage and fine art, more recently taking a very feminine approach – exploring the theme of love, the highs and lows.
For many artists working in Birmingham, the pull of the ‘big smoke’ can be irresistible. I asked Kate whether she feels that you can be a ‘big fish in a small pond’ here in Birmingham and how she views the amount of opportunities in comparison to other cities.
Yes I do think you can be big fish in small pond in Brum but I also think you are not restricted by being in a place. You can grow, create, and innovate wherever you are.
Kate is based at Fazeley Studios in Digbeth, more of her work is viewable on her website here.
[...] development so there’s a few mentions of that amongst interviews of local creatives (Kate Beatty and Nicole Scribbel so far), curated events listings, opportunities for artists/promoters and [...]