Finn Hopson is a photographer from Brighton. Having spent many years cycling and walking on the South Downs he now spends his time photographing them, trying to capture the unique places, shapes, patterns and textures of the UK's newest national park.
"The South Downs were a part of the very first landscape I ever saw. I don’t recall it that well. The maternity unit at Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital is on the 13th floor, and the view offers a dramatic vision of the sea, the city and the hills beyond. Pretty much every child born there gets shown that view within the first few hours of its life and I was no different. Those hills have been a permanent fixture in my life in one way or another ever since. The landscape is peppered with memories, of good things and bad. Places I went when I bunked off school, places I’ve dragged my children to show them a view, or the place where my brother’s ashes are scattered. A place from where, just as in the hospital, you can see the sea, the city and the hills. In short, it's unlike anywhere else that I will ever be in or come to know, and there’s still so much to explore."
Finn's work has been exhibited around the city since 2011, and has been featured in magazines, advertising and websites around the world. In 2014 he opened the Brighton Photography Gallery and between 2015 and 2019 he took on the job of curating the world famous Brighton & Hove calendar. His first book ’Fieldwork’ was published in late 2022. When he's not cycling, swimming or running (a gallery) he looks after his two tiny daughters, eats a few too many sandwiches and spends quite a lot of time staring out to sea.
