Photographs in Teresa Kirby Smith’s latest exhibition are a little bit blurry, out of focus and unreal, and that was exactly her intention when she took them.

Ms Smith won the 2014 Charman prize with an abstract photograph of a gombey in motion. Her abstract photography show Unreal Portraits opens on October 24 at Masterworks and runs until November 5.

The Royal Gazette recently caught up with Ms Smith to learn more about her new exhibition and about life after winning one of Bermuda’s most prestigious art prizes. For more information see the Masterworks website at www.Bermudamasterworks.com.

Q: What is the most difficult thing about your process?

A: There’s a lot of trial and error in the photographs I make, a lot of discarding images and starting over. That’s one difficulty.

Another is light, or rather limited light, since I primarily work at night and use light sparingly. I guess this is a self-imposed difficulty, but one I’ve gotten used to.

Q: Which image in the show are you most proud of?

A: I’m not sure there’s a single image in this show that stands out more for me than the others, but I am proud of the series, Unreal Portraits, of which these 14 photos are a part.

Q: Were there any images that you were doubtful of when you first took them?

A: You often can sense immediately after taking a photo that it’s not going to work, so doubt can be sowed right from the beginning. And then when I’m in the darkroom and have just developed a roll of film, I can see that certain images don’t look right. And this happens still again when I go to print images from the negative. There is always doubt, but this isn’t a bad thing and in fact feels quite natural, a sort of weeding out, separating good images from the ones that are flat and don’t jump out at you.

Q: What would you like the audience to get out of your latest show?

A: The photos in the Masterworks exhibition are from an ongoing series called Unreal Portraits, which I started several years ago. There are

14 images in the show, though I’ve completed quite a few more than this. The initial idea for the series was to take real people and superimpose new identities upon them. Ideally, I’d like visitors to the show to participate in this process, approaching each photo as a starting point in which to briefly imagine the life of the “unreal” character I’ve depicted. The titles of the pictures are meant to help in this process.

Q: What is life like after wining the Charman prize?

A: Great. There seems to be a bit more recognition of me as a photographic artist, for which I’m grateful. Photography has been an important part of my life for a long time now. I’m very appreciative of Masterworks, and of course of John Charman’s generosity. I’ve used some of the proceeds from the prize to buy more equipment.

Q: What is your next goal?

A: I simply want to keep working. Like other photographers and visual artists, I usually have several projects going on at the same time. One project I started a couple of years ago is different from the others in that I use a digital camera, rather than my normal twin-lens reflex camera with traditional film. With the new camera I’ve been shooting during the day and creating large colour abstracts. Two of these photos are in the current Biennial 2014 exhibition at the Bermuda National Gallery (BNG). One other project I’m involved in is travelling to national parks or reserves that have been designated “dark sky parks.” These are places that have been recognised as having close to zero light pollution at night by the International Dark Sky Association. Being primarily a night photographer, these sites naturally appeal to me and offer great opportunities.