THE Garden Rooms at Tennants in Leyburn is to mount a selling exhibition next week of new photographic work by local photographer Emma Amsden, whose evocative landscapes capture the beauty and drama of the Yorkshire Dales.

The award-winning photographer, who grew up on a farm at Carperby, is profoundly deaf. Her picture-taking projects in the Dales and Isle of Skye often emphasise the isolation she feels in a world without sound.

"My pictures speak eloquently of the countryside I love with a passion," she said. "When the weather changes, it inspires me from within, I have an empathy with it. I can't hear anything, but I feel that I grew up with a relationship with the environment. Using my strong visual sense, I see texture. Taking photographs, I feel the oppressive atmosphere of black heavy clouds in contrast with the landscape."

Ms Amsden, now based in Northallerton, prefers to use natural light and a major element of her work is the imaginative use of light and contrast.

"I have a keen eye, especially when I capture many facial expressions on people's faces, they're sad and happy. My pictures of sweeping, empty landscapes with their haunting atmosphere and beautiful imagery, seems to share with the viewer a sense of silence and isolation".

"I have developed my own style – moody, landscape and intense studies of people, using natural light to emphasise textures and patterns to create effect."

A World Without Sound runs from July 22 to August 12. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday, 9am-5pm.