Dr. Sheona Beaumont (b.1979) is an artist and writer whose photographic work explores religious traditions and beliefs. Connected to her family’s work in the Church of England both in the UK and East Africa, her photographs and publications focus on the visual theology of community, landscape, motherhood and the Bible.

Sheona has held artist residencies in a variety of ecumenical settings: with Churches Together on Dartmoor (Devon, and Exeter Cathedral), at Trinity College Bristol, and as Photographer in Residence at St Cyriac’s Church (Wiltshire). She writes for journals, photobooks, and academic publications exploring the relationship between theology and the arts. Most recently as Bishop Otter Scholar (Diocese of Chichester, 2017-2020), she combined her creative and scholarly interests through a cathedral exhibition, photographic commission, and conference publications, following her doctoral studies on the theology of photography at the University of Gloucestershire (supported by Bible Society).

Sheona is a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London, a Montgomery Lecturer, and was Co-founder of Visual Theology, an independent organisation exploring the spiritual imagination in visual culture. She lives in Wiltshire with her husband and two children.



CURRENT:


A Lenten Lookout (14th February – 31st March 2024): posting 40 days of photographers on Instagram and Twitter, as featured in my book The Bible in Photography. Looking at index, icon, tableau, and vision as biblical ideas for a visual journey. To find Sheona at a pitstop, sign up to her newsletter on this page.

OUT NOW: The Bible in Photography (Bloomsbury). The story of images which portray biblical subjects, from landscapes of the Holy Land to portraits of Jesus by David LaChapelle.

COMING SOON: Paper Presentation ‘The Theology of the Photograph’ 10th April at the Society for the Study of Theology conference, Warwick University.

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Positions held
2019-2021 Photographer in Residence, St Cyriac’s Church, Lacock, Wiltshire
2017-2020 Bishop Otter Scholar, Diocese of Chichester
2014-2015 Artist in Residence, Trinity College, Bristol
2003-2004 Artist in Residence, Princetown, Devon
   
Selected exhibitions
2021 Spotlight On: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Collection of Chippenham Museum, Chippenham Museum, Wiltshire
2019 Scriptorium, The Bishop’s Palace, Chichester, West Sussex
2018 Where is God in our 21st Century World?, Chaiya Art Awards, gallery@oxo, London
2014 Standing Room Only, Bristol Cathedral, Bristol
2014 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
2013 Stewards of the Earth, Sarum College, Salisbury
2012 RGB Awards, The Grant Bradley Gallery, Bristol
2012 Elemental, Glenfall House, Cheltenham; Colston Hall, Bristol
2011 Faith in the City, Red Gallery, Shoreditch, London
2011 Open Photography 2, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2010 Bristol Through the Lens, The Photo Gallery and The New Room, Bristol, part of the Bristol Festival of Photography
   
Education
2011-2017 PhD Photography and Theology, University of Gloucestershire
2003-2004 MA Visual Culture, University of Nottingham
1998-2001 BA (Hons) Fine Art, University for the Creative Arts, Canterbury