Faces of the Crone: Ann Cook

The wonderful Ann Cook is and has been the ‘court’-photographer of The Goddess Conference for years. Through the years she has been able to capture the many faces of The Goddess Conference. And especially because she is very clear about not wanting to be photographed herself, always operating in the background and behind the scenes, we feel it is time to put her in the spotlight.

Ann is a well-travelled woman and a bit of an explorer of the beautiful and wonderful parts of the world, from Central America to the Himalayas, from North Africa and the Caucasus to Southeast Asia. She is a real lover of people and their cultures, including the festivals, spirituality and art that are part of those cultures and people.

Wherever she goes, she tries to capture the human experience, the anthropological perspective in which people interact. Her work, especially of Glastonbury Festival, has been published far and wide, including in The Times and for The BBC, in newspapers, brochures and magazines. She is also a ‘Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society’.

Ann is a bit of an enigma within The Goddess Conference circles. I never got the idea she was particularly a Goddess woman perse, but she is clearly Goddess-curious and very open-minded and open-hearted, and over the years she must have gathered an enormous amount of Goddess knowledge and wisdom and she is always happy to go with the flow of the Conference and totally respectful of the Goddess Path.

As long as I can remember Ann has been there to take pictures of the celebrations, ceremonies and all that is going on during The Goddess Conference. She has the ability to be invisible, but always in the right place to capture the atmosphere of The Goddess Conference beautifully and make us all look colourful and wonderful!

I love how Ann can portray the character of each and every person in their portraits, especially those that are taken at the Gala evening. To be photographed by Ann is a real honour and privilege, and many of us have stood in line to have our picture taken in our finest Gala outfits.

Now in her eighties, she is still present, directing us how to look at our best. She is determined to be there as we process through the streets of Glastonbury, even if she now choses to be driven ahead of our arrival.

I don’t know anyone who is more devoted to the capturing of the beauty of Goddess and all Goddess people, than Ann Cook. It is therefore that I continue to honour Ann Cook as trailblazing Goddess Conference Elder.

By Goddess Conference co-organiser

Marion Brigantia