Photographer drowned af ter being swept away by ‘rogue wave’
THE partner of an awardwinning photographer has told an inquest of the moment she was swept to her death by a ‘rogue wave’.
French photographer Agnes Proudhon-Smith was on a guided photography trip to the Outer Hebrides when she was dragged into the sea.
The 50-year-old, who had won many photography awards, was setting up equipment on rocks on a beach in Harris along with a guide and two other trip members following an assessment of possible dangers.
Fellow photographers called the Coastguard moments after Miss Proudhon-Smith was carried away by the wave and disappeared into the sea on March 20 last year.
Her body was found by Coastguard helicopter crew on Nisabost Beach 40 minutes later. She was taken to the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway but was pronounced dead soon after arrival.
An inquest into Miss Proudhon-Smith’s death was held at West London Coroners Court last week. In a statement, Steve Smith, who was described as her next of kin, said: ‘Agnes drowned while on an organised photographic tour of the Isle of Harris in the Hebrides on March 20.
‘Following a risk assessment of the site by the guide, she set up her camera on a rocky promontory together with the guide and the two other members of the group. At around 7.40am, she was swept off the rocks by a rogue wave and seemed to be carried into the water before the other members of the group lost sight of her.
‘The Maritime and Coastguard Agency were alerted at 7.42am. She was recovered from the beach at 8.22am and taken to the Western Isles
Hospital in Stornoway but was pronounced dead at 9.07am.’
Miss Proudhon-Smith lived in Esher, Surrey, and her love of photography had led her to travel the globe, including trips to India, Bolivia, Greenland, Iceland and throughout Europe.
Speaking at the inquest last Friday, coroner Dr Sean Cummings
said: ‘She was on a photographic trip to the Outer Hebrides on the morning of March 20, 2019, and she and members of the trip were setting up equipment on rocks on a beach in Harris.
‘A surge of water reportedly shot up in front of them and this dragged her into the sea.
‘At about 8.15am on the same day, a body was discovered on Nisabost Beach just below the high water mark.’
The coroner said she was takes to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
He added: ‘A full post-mortem examination was carried out and the medical cause of death given was drowning.’
Miss Proudhon-Smith was a finalist in the National Geographic UK Photo Competition with a picture of a polar bear guarding its kill on Spitsbergen island in the Arctic.
Dr Cummings recorded her death as accidental and caused by drowning. He added: ‘On the evidence I have, I am going to conclude that Agnes Proudhon-Smith died from a medical cause of death of drowning. The conclusion is that she died as a result of an accident.’
In a tribute after her death, her son Elliot, 20, said she had spent her final days ‘doing what she loved to do most’.
Mr Proudhon-Smith, 20, who lives in Paris but was raised in London, told the BBC his mother ‘lived life to the fullest’.
He added: ‘As far as I know, this was her first trip there [to Harris]. She is going to be missed a lot by everyone.’
The mother of two was a professional photographer based in Esher. On her website she said: ‘Travel is my passion. When I am not in the studio photographing babies, pets and families, you will find me somewhere around the globe, photographing the beauties of the world.’
‘Carried into the water’