After initially studying in Dundee in 2017, Sara officially emigrated to Scotland in 2020, to her beloved Glasgow. From the moment she arrived, Sara fell in love with everything Scotland had to offer but, most notably, the commitment the general population has to encouraging participation in the arts. As a queer immigrant, Sara did not anticipate that she would have the space or capacity to contribute to this creative community but she has continually been proven wrong, being welcomed into many artistic spaces such as this. Sara began using 35mm film photography in 2023 and has loved witnessing the gorgeous, pulsing life in Glasgow through the viewfinder ever since.

See Sara’s work as part of our conceptual photography open call, STAGED, curated by gallery intern Noa Ferder. The participating artists each examine how a still image can hold the tension of a performed moment, and carry liveness through composition, gesture, and construction. We create a space where photography is a site of performance, where the still is activated. We invite visitors to experience photographs that sit somewhere between rehearsal and outcome: the making of the image exists within the captured still, allowing the still to continue to perform in the act of being seen.

Thanks for chatting with us Sara! Tell us how your artistic journey started.
I was very lucky to grow up in a very creative household with exposure to many mediums of art. My first true artistic passion was opera singing, I went on to study it at University and performed professionally for several years. Recently I have had to step back from opera due to a throat injury, and in that space I began exploring previously unknown mediums such as ceramic work and photography. I have found that I truly love composition and staging, it’s one of the few things that really can be observed in every circumstance.

Will your next project be a continuation of your current style or are you experimenting with something different? Can you share a glimpse of your next project?
I am currently in the very early stages of developing/writing a new opera around the maiden, the mother, and the mage from Celtic folklore. I’m looking at creating very specific vignettes around the experiences that push womxn into these roles, both positive and negative. This project will relate to this same idea of very specific symbolism and staging, we will have intention behind every scene, and the visual representation will be as important as the musical – reflecting the real world experience of womxn.

What emotions or reactions do you hope viewers experience when they see your photographs?
There is an anxiety in this photo that goes beyond just tension, a feeling that every immigrant, or lover of an immigrant, has felt. You can do every single thing right, but there is always a feeling of uncertainty that everything you have worked for can be snatched from you in an instant. Sam’s bare feet especially speak of urgency in this piece, of how there wasn’t even space to pause for shoes. I don’t think people realise how much of a toll this uncertainty can play on your mental wellbeing, it affects every choice, every purchase, every relationship. The fear that you have wasted however much money or time on this dream of emigrating can be all consuming.

Can you elaborate on the significance or symbolism of the chosen title for your work?
We decided to go with Waiting because we felt like it best encapsulated the feelings I’ve spoken about before around immigration. Waiting is not always negative, it can be about trusting the process and that you have done the work to progress as you planned, but it also sometimes feels like standing on the edge of a cliff in a strong wind.

How would you say your art has developed since the start of your career?
I’ve become much less afraid of having specific points of view. I think when I was younger I was very caught up in being ‘understood’ in all of my creations, but now I feel much more settled in the idea that not everything is for every body. Some people will just never get what you are trying say, and it is not your responsibility to change that!

Can you walk us through your creative process?
I’m very much an ideas guy – sometimes to a fault. Editing and refining have become such an integral part of my process. I like to start without limits, putting together an idea or a concept as if I had unlimited resources, and then from there going through the idea and identifying what parts of the concept I am unwilling to compromise on, and what I am. I then move straight into production planning, again starting from the parts that I’m unwilling to part with and then ending with the more superfluous bits. I think it really challenges you to look at the project under a microscope and really figure out the ‘so what’ of what you are doing, I find it to be a fantastic North Star.

STAGED runs at Six Foot Gallery until 24th February 2026. Connect with Sara on Instagram.