Arts Project
In her spare time, Suzi Baker (aka Suzanne Grala) is an established photographic artist based in Hastings, East Sussex. Member of PhotoHastings, Suzi exhibits in the group’s annual PhotoHastings Festival.
Currently focused on her personal practice, Suzi specialises in natural portrait photography on location, capturing orchestrated yet seemingly relaxed moments in time, and making brief observations of placed objects or surroundings in ambient light.
Suzi has been commissioned by publications, private companies and individuals across many sectors, and offers a catalogue of rights managed, health and lifestyle images for license on platforms such as Alamy, Camera Press and the Science Photo Library.
’Pink Concrete’ (working title) – personal project
Suzi’s ‘Pink Concrete’ project began with a fascinating tour of London’s hidden city architecture given by her first portrait subject and long term acquaintance – via a temp job on a building site in the 90s – project site architect John Tygier, at around the same time she captured an image of fungi at the bottom of her garden which reminded Suzi of a Zaha Hadid architecture project in Uzbekistan.
This inspired ideas for a long term project in December 2024. Under the mentorship of esteemed photographer, Grace Lau (a founder member of PhotoHastings), Suzi’s images and text will aim to connect the public with the architecture and construction industries and its discussions about new sustainable materials. An initial arts piece entitled ‘Concrete Thoughts’ will explore concrete and the potential impact of nature on its future in construction, specifically the potential use of fungi in ‘self-healing’ concrete, and will include photographic images of buildings, ‘concrete in nature, nature in concrete’. Suzi’s work in progress to be exhibited in a joint Crouch End London Independent Photography (LIP) & PhotoHastings (PH) group show themed ‘Wabi Sabi’ during the PhotoHastings 2025 festival, to be held at the Electro Studios, St Leonards-on-Sea in October 2025 and possibly a future show in London.
Images together with comment from architects and specialist researchers will inform a future book and exhibitions. These will feature a collection of black and white portraits of project contributors taken on analogue film, printed by one of Britain’s finest printers Robin Bell.
Humbled by the enthusiasm and early response to this, Suzi would like to thank those who’ve kindly volunteered to be her portrait subjects to date, and to other specialists and property owners in the built environment, nature and broadcast industries who’ve offered to help if they can, including John Tygier (Senior Architect, Sheppard Robson), Bidisha Sinha (Associate Director, Zaha Hadid), Rob Pollard and Derek Rankin (RX Architects, RIBA chartered practice), Adrian and Megan Corrigall owners of the Concrete House Sussex, and David Satori, fungal biodiversity specialist and lecturer. She also thanks the growing list of other construction industry professionals – too many to mention here – who have supported and motivated her to date, including strangers on trains, in galleries and global architecture connections, as well as to the inspirational makers of the thought-provoking and mesmerising films ‘Architecton’ and ‘Web of Life’.
Suzi would particularly like to thank Grace Lau for her valuable advice and mentorship. She thanks the renowned Lucy Bell Gallery for selling her the first roll of black and white film in a very long time, together with words of encouragement from Lucy.
And, last but not least, Suzi thanks her husband for encouraging her to get started, and friends and family for their interest and patience when she talks non-stop about concrete!
In her spare time, Suzi Baker (aka Suzanne Grala) is an established photographic artist based in Hastings, East Sussex. Member of PhotoHastings, Suzi exhibits in the group’s annual PhotoHastings Festival.
Currently focused on her personal practice, Suzi specialises in natural portrait photography on location, capturing orchestrated yet seemingly relaxed moments in time, and making brief observations of placed objects or surroundings in ambient light.
Suzi has been commissioned by publications, private companies and individuals across many sectors, and offers a catalogue of rights managed, health and lifestyle images for license on platforms such as Alamy, Camera Press and the Science Photo Library.
’Pink Concrete’ (working title) – personal project
Suzi’s ‘Pink Concrete’ project began with a fascinating tour of London’s hidden city architecture given by her first portrait subject and long term acquaintance – via a temp job on a building site in the 90s – project site architect John Tygier, at around the same time she captured an image of fungi at the bottom of her garden which reminded Suzi of a Zaha Hadid architecture project in Uzbekistan.
This inspired ideas for a long term project in December 2024. Under the mentorship of esteemed photographer, Grace Lau (a founder member of PhotoHastings), Suzi’s images and text will aim to connect the public with the architecture and construction industries and its discussions about new sustainable materials. An initial arts piece entitled ‘Concrete Thoughts’ will explore concrete and the potential impact of nature on its future in construction, specifically the potential use of fungi in ‘self-healing’ concrete, and will include photographic images of buildings, ‘concrete in nature, nature in concrete’. Suzi’s work in progress to be exhibited in a joint Crouch End London Independent Photography (LIP) & PhotoHastings (PH) group show themed ‘Wabi Sabi’ during the PhotoHastings 2025 festival, to be held at the Electro Studios, St Leonards-on-Sea in October 2025 and possibly a future show in London.
Images together with comment from architects and specialist researchers will inform a future book and exhibitions. These will feature a collection of black and white portraits of project contributors taken on analogue film, printed by one of Britain’s finest printers Robin Bell.
Humbled by the enthusiasm and early response to this, Suzi would like to thank those who’ve kindly volunteered to be her portrait subjects to date, and to other specialists and property owners in the built environment, nature and broadcast industries who’ve offered to help if they can, including John Tygier (Senior Architect, Sheppard Robson), Bidisha Sinha (Associate Director, Zaha Hadid), Rob Pollard and Derek Rankin (RX Architects, RIBA chartered practice), Adrian and Megan Corrigall owners of the Concrete House Sussex, and David Satori, fungal biodiversity specialist and lecturer. She also thanks the growing list of other construction industry professionals – too many to mention here – who have supported and motivated her to date, including strangers on trains, in galleries and global architecture connections, as well as to the inspirational makers of the thought-provoking and mesmerising films ‘Architecton’ and ‘Web of Life’.
Suzi would particularly like to thank Grace Lau for her valuable advice and mentorship. She thanks the renowned Lucy Bell Gallery for selling her the first roll of black and white film in a very long time, together with words of encouragement from Lucy.
And, last but not least, Suzi thanks her husband for encouraging her to get started, and friends and family for their interest and patience when she talks non-stop about concrete!
