From the big smoke to the East Neuk of Fife, Sophie Camu Lindsay and her family have found Space to Breathe in their new Scottish home.
Q What brought your family to the East Neuk of Fife?
A My husband and I moved from London to Fife five years ago when I was expecting our second child. We had both been living in cities for most of our lives: I grew up in London before moving to Paris and then New York when I worked for the auction house Sotheby’s. Alexander’s family home is in Fife, so we were coming back to his roots, while also wanting to create a home for our children to enjoy ‘space to breathe’.
I can’t imagine living anywhere more perfect than the East Neuk of Fife, with it’s strong sense of community, beautiful beaches and incredible fresh food and produce. Our children thrive here.
Q Tell us about your upcoming event at Bowhouse?
A After the overwhelmingly enthusiastic response to Alexander Lindsay’s photography exhibition at Bowhouse last summer, we decided to create an annual exhibition and art festival showcasing both established and up-and-coming artists brought together around a different theme each year.
This year, Space to Breathe will again be held in the vast and spectacular barn of Bowhouse, Fife, from July 15 to August 6. The exhibition will centre on the work of four great artist-photographers documenting the natural world.
Andy Goldsworthy, Susan Derges, Harry Cory Wright, and Alexander Lindsay approach landscape and nature in unique ways, yet they are connected by the experimentation and the physicality of their creative processes.
The art festival will be held at Bowhouse in parallel. We will host guest speakers including Martin Barnes – senior curator of photography at the V&A in London; Beth Bate, Director of Dundee Contemporary Art; Ben Harman, Director of Stills Gallery, Edinburgh and the artists Harry Cory Wright and Alexander Lindsay discussing their life in art and photography.
We will host a day of cyanotype photography workshops for all ages, and an evening of music and dance inspired by the East Neuk.
Q How important is art to you?
A I cannot remember when art was not important to me. My grandmother collected art from the 1950s and 60s and her house was filled with striking abstract paintings and sculpture. I would make camps in and around the works and studied them for hours trying to decipher their meaning. When I studied art history at school it became clear that working with art would become my life. I started working for Sotheby’s as soon as I graduated from Edinburgh University.
Q What’s the biggest career risk you have taken?
A Leaving Sotheby’s after ten years to branch out on my own as an art consultant. When you work for yourself, you only have your reputation, experience and expertise to keep you in business. It is all the more satisfying to build a collection in partnership with a collector who chooses to work with you because of your eye and expertise.
Q Favourite part of Scotland to explore?
A We are very fond of the Outer Hebrides, and the Isle of Harris in particular. Alexander has taken incredible photographs in and around the islands, culminating in an extraordinary project to photograph St Kilda last year.
Q Last meal on earth?
A An incredible pop-up dinner created by Hazel and Giacomo at Baern café in Bowhouse. They use local produce and forage for unique ingredients, wasting nothing. You can taste their love and respect for food in every mouthful.
Q Dream dinner guests?
A Pablo Picasso and any of the Surrealists, including Man Ray, Lee Miller, Salvador Dali, Leonora Carrington and Meret Oppenheim.
Q If you could rule for a day, what would be the first thing you would do?
A Double the wages of all NHS workers.
Q Favourite holiday destination?
A Cape Town. Alex and I spent six months there while he was photographing the wilderness regions of Southern Africa. It is a melting pot of creativity in design, art or food.
Q What makes you happy?
A Seeing my children and my garden thrive.
Q What makes you sad?
A The unnecessary suffering of war.
And art that has been created with commerce in mind rather than from a deep-rooted need to express oneself.
Q Do you believe in love at first sight?
A I believe that to deeply love someone you have to see how they react in both good and bad situations, which takes time.
Q What was the first album you ever bought?
A A-Ha Hunting High and Low on tape.
Q Best music to drive to?
A The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’, or Vivaldi’s ‘Nulla in Mundo Pax Sincera’ sung by Emma Kirkby – both very loud and with all the windows open.
Q Night out on the town or cosy evening at home?
A At home by the fire with a glass of good red wine and our puppy on my knee.
Q What’s the most adventurous thing you have done?
A Have children.
Q If you could go back to any point in history, what would it be?
A The late 1920s-early 1930s in Paris, hanging out with the Surrealists. They were breaking the rules of what was considered art and having a tremendous amount of fun doing it.
Q Which book changed your life?
A Primo Levi The Drowned and the Saved – As a teenager I was incredulous that the famous Auschwitz survivor could analyse the brutality of humans without passing judgment.
Q What was the last book you read?
A In Praise of Walking by Thomas A. Clark. Beautifully worded truths about the pleasure and practice of walking. Tom has kindly lent us his words to hang throughout the exhibition Space to Breathe. I hope they will encourage visitors to look at the images of nature and connect to the feeling of being in that place.
Q What do you do to unwind?
A Deadhead the roses.
Q Happiest memory?
A I know it’s a cliché, but my wedding day and the arrival of my two children.
Q Who do you admire most?
A My husband Alexander Lindsay. For his endless patience and kindness he offers everyone – and how he can create the most beautiful photograph with just one tulip petal.
Q If you could turn back the clock what one thing would you change?
A We are here today because of everything that we have experienced.
Q Who would you like to thank?
A My professor of Art History at Edinburgh University, Elizabeth Cowling. Her inspirational teaching on early Modern Art – and Picasso in particular – set me on the path to becoming a specialist and director in the Impressionist and Modern Art department at Sotheby’s.
Q Where would you rather be right now?
A I never want to be far from my family, but for a little perk I would like to be strolling the galleries of the Villa Borghese in Rome.
SPACE TO BREATHE exhibition and festival takes place from Saturday, July 15 to Sunday, August 6, 2023 at Bowhouse, St Monans, Fife KY10 2DB.
It is open every day 10am – 6pm except Mondays. For more details and to book places on the talks, please visit www.spacetobreatheexpo.com
