The Clive Sawyer Gallery, housed in a lovely timber framed building at 103A High Street, will be well known to locals for the impressive window display of vibrant and contemporary photography, adding to Rye’s mix of fine art and photographic galleries.
Clive started life as a travel/location photographer working for all the major travel companies in over 50 countries and his work has been published in more than 100 travel books throughout the world in different languages. He has also worked extensively for a top London design company, producing high-end sales material for the commercial property market and he continues to be commissioned by local wedding and hotel venues to provide top quality images for their promotional materials.
Rising to the challenges
Clive said: “As photography entered the digital world things changed dramatically. Clients were able to source their image requirements online and had little need to commission work”.
As a result, in 2008 he moved down from the Gatwick Airport area to Camber and after a couple of years opened a gallery in Hilder’s Cliff and then later moved to his current premises.
“Moving into the High Street my client base increased significantly. However since the tragic fire at the George Hotel and Covid things are obviously on the slow side. With this in mind I have come up with even more creative images and increased the range of prints using the best print process that is now available. These prints need to be viewed in person to appreciate the very high quality and sustainability.”
New Work: Photography and Interior Design
Embracing the latest technology Clive is now moving into the area of interior design for kitchens and bathrooms. He said “Last year a client requested to have a kitchen back- splash installed which you can see in the photograph below . I took this photograph on July 13 this year and on inspection found the print has remained in perfect condition, thus proving the excellent use of this product.”
The ChromaLuxe process enables clients to have photographic images installed as fine art in any environment including kitchens and bathrooms. Unlike glass and acrylic, ChromaLuxe is scratch, water, chemical, fade and fire proof making this an ideal product for any installation in any environment. “Having tested printing an image on toughened glass and acrylic the colour vibrancy of a ChromaLuxe print is unmatched and has to be seen to be believed.”
Clive’s Best Photograph
Having taken so many photographs it must be difficult to pick up one that is most important to him but he said “El Bistrot de Paris, Mexico (featured image above) has to be one of my best photographs underlined by the fact that the senior judge of the Photographer of the Year Competition bought one for his own collection.”
Where to view Clive’s work
Clive says “I now sell my coaster and place mat range online but, as my prints are a very much bespoke offering, I do not sell these online but they can be viewed on the website www.just-one.gallery.”
“The range of images I have for sale are both local and international , from straight images of local places to abstract subjective pieces. My gallery is open most days from 10:30am to 4pm. Call to confirm if coming from further away on 07738 715 354.”
The gallery below shows a sample of Clive’s work
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Image Credits: Clive Sawyer , Clive Sawyer .