Pat Maycroft was born in Middlesbrough in 1945 and first picked up her father's Box Brownie at the age of 10 to photograph her dog!

After leaving school she completed an apprenticeship in hairdressing then married and with her husband, moved to Zambia where they lived for almost 7 years. During this time whilst raising two children her interest in photography grew.

It was to be another 12 years before she enrolled on a City & Guilds Photography course at Darlington College. After the successful completion of three years study Pat became a lecturer in photography.

As a member of Darlington Media Group during 1994 the 'Year of Women Photographers' she formed The Opposite Six. This collective exhibited photographs depicting 'WHO WE ARE - WOMEN '94' at the Zone Gallery, Newcastle.

Pat won a place on the 6n project at Newcastle College, she and three other artists experimented with digital manipulation and 'work sharing' via the Internet highway. Her varied digital imaging experience places her at the forefront of this technology, applying it as an art form rather than a processing tool.

An interest in creative writing led Pat to be one of the founder members of the Darlington based Vane Women (name taken from Vane Terrace, Darlington), she contributes her poems and is instrumental in cover design for many of the group's publications. July 2002 saw the launch of Pat's first book Northern Grit, a book of 30 photographs with poems inspired by her images. (see home page for link)

Since 1989 Pat has exhibited work in Darlington, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Bath, Birmingham and London. It was in the West End of London, where she exhibited her degree work after achieving a first class honours whilst studying at Cleveland College of Art and Design. Her pictures have appeared in several books and periodicals, including her photograph of a Butterknowle brick in 'Best of Friends 7'. (view brick)

Pat regularly gives talks to regional photographic groups and runs photographic courses. Her images are diverse but perhaps she is best known for her landscapes, natural habitat and projected images onto buildings, interior walls and even gravestones!

For the technophobes, Pat's philosophy is simplicity. Her three principal 'cameras' are a Pentax 35 mm, an Olympus digital and an Epson flat bed scanner, though she has been known to use an MPP Large Format camera, a Bronica ERTS and a home made pin-hole camera.