Category: Exhibition

Exhibition, Turner Contemporary, Margate, 22nd February – 18th May 2025
Resistance

Header image: Paul Trevor, Anti-racists gather to block the route of National Front demonstration,
New Cross Road, London, August 1977 © Paul Trevor

Curated by Steve McQueen, tomorrow sees the opening of a new exhibition in Margate that charts the impact of protest, spanning multiple styles of imagery and a host of respected photographers. 

left: Keith Pattison, Police operation to get the first returning miner into the pit. Joanne, Gillian and Kate Handy with Brenda Robinson, Easington Colliery, Durham, 24 August 1984 © Keith Pattison
right: Pam Isherwood, Stop Clause 28 march, Whitehall, London, 9 January 1988 © Bishopsgate Institute

Excerpt from press release:

How protest shaped Britain and photography shaped protest

‘Turner Contemporary is pleased to announce Resistance, an exhibition conceived by acclaimed artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen and curated in collaboration with Clarrie Wallis. Opening on 22 February 2025, the exhibition will explore how acts of resistance have shaped life in the UK and the powerful role of photography in documenting and driving change. A major new publication, released by 4th Estate, will accompany the exhibition.

Renowned for amplifying underrepresented voices, McQueen contributes a compelling exploration of overlooked histories, shedding light on the forgotten stories of individuals whose actions have helped define Britain’s history.

Presenting a century of activism, Resistance will span from the radical suffrage movement in 1903 to the largest-ever protest in Britain’s history—the Anti-Iraq War Protest in 2003. The exhibition will bring together works by renowned photographers such as Vanley Burke, Henry Grant, Fay Godwin, Edith Tudor-Hart, Tish Murtha, Humphrey Spender, Christine Spengler, Andrew Testa, Paul Trevor and Janine Wiedel, alongside less-known photographers who documented these powerful stories.

left: Henry Grant, Anti-nuclear protesters marching to Aldermaston, Berkshire, May 1958
© Henry Grant Collection/London Museum
right: Portrait of Steve McQueen, © Thomas Dane Gallery, Photo: James Stopforth

Resistance is made possible by the Ampersand Foundation; Clarrie Wallis, Director of Turner Contemporary, was awarded The Ampersand Foundation Award in 2023 to realise Resistance.

Resistance is curated by Steve McQueen and Clarrie Wallis, with Emma Lewis. Political research is by Sarah Harrison. The exhibition is produced by Tessa Pierce, with assistance from Brittany Crombie.’

Resistance runs from 22 February until 1 June 2025

Turner Contemporary, Rendezvous, Margate CT9 1HG – open 10am to 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday (please check website for details before visiting)

Click here for more information and to book tickets

All images and exhibition details are copyrighted as listed and should not be reproduced without permission

Feature added by Callum

Published 21st February 2025

Exhibition, National Gallery London, until 16th June 2024
Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits To Dream In

Header image: Portraits To Dream In © David Parry / National Portrait Gallery

Celebrating the portraiture of Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron, two of the most distinguished women photographers in history, The National Portrait Gallery is currently housing this exhibition of their works. It provides a fascinating comparison between the time and environment both were working in (Cameron in the UK and Sri Lanka from the 1860s, Woodman in America and Italy from the 1970s), whilst highlighting the ways they used photography to capture a mood as well as a moment in time.

Left: The Dream (Mary Hillier) by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1869 – Wilson Centre for Photography
Right: These People Live In That Door, 1976-77 – courtesy Woodman Family Foundation © Woodman Family Foundation / DACS, London

Excerpt from the press release:

‘The National Portrait Gallery will display a major retrospective exhibition of work by two of the most significant photographers in the history of the medium – Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) and Francesca Woodman (1958-1981). Bringing their work together for the first time in an exhibition of this scale, it will showcase more than 160 rare vintage prints from galleries. museums and private collections, including 96 works by Woodman and 71 by Cameron, spanning the entire careers of both photographers – who worked 100 years apart.

Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits To Dream In will offer a new way to consider these two artists, by moving away from the biographical emphasis that has often been the focus of how their work is understood. The exhibition challenges this approach in its insistence on experiencing the physical print, taking the picture making of Woodman and Cameron as a starting point for consideration of their work. While neither artist aimed for technical perfection in their printing, for each it was a dynamic and essential aspect of their creative process used to explore and extend the possibilities of photographic image making’.

Portraits To Dream In © David Parry / National Portrait Gallery

Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits To Dream In runs until 16th June 2024.

All images and exhibition details are reproduced with permission from The National Portrait Gallery and are copyrighted as listed. You can find further details including opening times, ticket prices and concessions on their website.

The National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE (entrances are located on St Martin’s Place and Charing Cross Road).

Intro by Siobhan

Published 6th May 2024

Exhibition, The Photographers’ Gallery London, 23rd June 2023 – 24th September 2023
Johny Pitts – Home is Not a Place

Header image and all photos below Home is Not a Place © Johny Pitts

 Johny Pitts is an award winning photographer whose work spans portraits of working class Sheffield (2016) to Afropean: Travels in Black Europe (2020). His style is documentary meets drama, his compositions always complimentary to his subjects. Pitt’s touring exhibition Home is Not a Place is currently on display at The Photographers’ Gallery in London, having previously been shown in his hometown of Sheffield at the Graves Gallery, and at the Stills Gallery in Edinburgh.

Excerpt from the press release here:

‘The Photographers’ Gallery presents Home is Not a Place by photographer and writer Johny Pitts, a reflection on Black British culture, people and geographies, exploring the notion of home.

“My photographic practice involves trying to celebrate Black spaces, capture them while they’re still here and give them a home. If not in a literal sense, in a figurative sense, for me home is somewhere that you take with you” – Johny Pitts.

What is Black Britain? In 2021, photographer and writer, Johny Pitts, and poet Roger Robinson travelled around the British coast in search of an answer to this question. Their collaboration, Home is Not a Place, will be on display at The Photographers’ Gallery this June (to September).

Travelling in a red Mini Cooper, Pitts and Robinson’s circumnavigation encompassed the coastal, urban, rural and suburban, via the places in-between. Following the coast clockwise, together they set out to document and respond to the many manifestations of Black British culture, and to present an alternative to official and media narratives.

A bespoke ‘welcome table’ in the gallery will be a focal point for visitors to flick through Pitts’ family photo album, chat and exchange ideas. The welcome table, designed by the artist’s sister, Chantal Pitts, is inspired by American writer James Baldwin’s unpublished novel of the same name. The title of the show is also drawn from a Baldwin quote “perhaps home is not a place, but simply an irrevocable condition”. Pirate radio playlists and furniture from Pitts’ 1980s youth recreate the atmosphere, in which Pitts describes ‘a Black or working-class community could feel at home’. Many of his family contributed to this room set – everyone is welcome to take a seat and feel at home’.

An accompanying book Home is Not a Place, which combines Pitts’ photographs with poems by Roger Robinson, is published by Harper Collins.

Johny Pitts – Home is Not a Place runs from 23rd June – 24th September 2023.

All images and exhibition details are reproduced under permissions from The Photographers’ Gallery and are copyrighted Home is Not a Place © Johny Pitts.

You can find further details including opening times, ticket prices and concessions, and other exhibitions on their website.

The Photographers’ Gallery, 16 – 18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW (nearest tube Oxford Circus)

Intro by Siobhan

Published 19th July 2023

Exhibition, National Portrait Gallery London, 28th June 2023 – 1st October 2023
Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm

Header image: John and George, Paris 1964
© 1964 Paul McCartney

When Beatlemania hit the 60s, it’s hard to imagine how it felt from the perspective of the band members. But this new exhibition gives an insight into Paul McCartney’s view of the world around him, and shows a keen eye for a good shot. Over 250 previously unseen photos taken by Paul with his own Pentax camera are on display now at the National Portrait Gallery until the start of October. From candid shots of his fellow band members to capturing the press as they captured him, the gallery offers the opportunity to see things from the other side of one of the most well documented stages of his career.

Photographers, Central Park, New York, February 1964
© 1964 Paul McCartney

Excerpt from the press release here:

“Millions of eyes were suddenly upon us, creating a picture I will never forget for the rest of my life” – Paul McCartney, 2023.

Self-portraits in a mirror, Paris, 1964
© 1964 Paul McCartney

‘While the exhibition’s narrative represents just four short months, McCartney’s photographs chronologically document the experiences of the band on their travels – from the grainy black and white portraits taken backstage in Liverpool, rehearsing musicians at a recording studio in Paris, wintry Manhattan skylines, to the gleaming colour shots of Miami Beach in the sunshine. The earliest images in the exhibition date from November 1963, just as Beatlemania was gripping the nation, and culminate with photographs taken in February 1964, during the final days of the band’s first triumphant trip to ‘conquer’ America. Indeed, the group’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on 9 February 1964 was watched by an unequalled television audience of 73 million people, transforming The Beatles into global superstars and redefining fame in the modern era’.

George looking young, handsome and relaxed.
Living the life. Miami Beach, February 1964
© 1964 Paul McCartney

The crowds chasing us in A Hard Day’s Night were based on moments like this.
Taken out of the back of our car on West Fifty-Eight,
crossing the Avenue of the Americas, New York, February 1964
©1964 Paul McCartney

An accompanying book of photographs and reflections by Paul McCartney. 1964: Eyes of the Storm, is available now via Penguin Press in the UK and via WW Norton in the US.

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm runs from 28th June – 1st October 2023.

All images and exhibition details are reproduced with permission from The National Portrait Gallery and are copyrighted as listed. You can find further details including opening times, ticket prices and concessions on their website.

The National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE (entrances are located on St Martin’s Place and Charing Cross Road). 

Intro by Siobhan

Published 13th July 2023

Exhibition, The Photographers Gallery London, 7th October 2022 – 19th February 2023
Chris Killip, Retrospective

Header image: Youth on Wall, Jarrow, Tyneside 1975
© Chris Killip Photography Trust, all images courtesy Martin Parr Foundation 

Chris Killip was born on the Isle of Man but was best known for his monochrome documentary photography of the people of Tyneside. Amongst numerous subject matters, his depiction of young people and culture captured moments in time that almost smell of nostalgia. A sad loss to the photography world, Killip died in 2020, leaving behind a huge collection of poignant images.

Bever, Skinningrove, N Yorkshire 1983
© Chris Killip Photography Trust, all images courtesy Martin Parr Foundation 

Currently underway at The Photographers Gallery, a celebration of some of his work is on display until February next year. Details from their website below.

‘Chris Killip’s continued efforts to value and document the lives of those affected by the economic shifts in the North of England, throughout the 1970s and 80s, have made him one of the most influential figures of British Photography. 

This retrospective exhibition of more than 140 works serves as the most comprehensive survey of the photographer’s work to date and includes previously unseen works.

Left: Father and son watching a parade, West End of Newcastle 1980   
Right: The Station, Gateshead 1985   
Both © Chris Killip Photography Trust, all images courtesy Martin Parr Foundation

His sustained immersion into the communities he photographed remains without parallel. Whilst marking a moment of deindustrialisation, Killip’s stark yet tender observation moves beyond the urgency to record such circumstances, to affirm the value of lives he grew close to – lives that, as he once described ‘had history done to them’, who felt history’s malicious disregard and yet, like the photographer himself, refused to yield or look away.

Against a background of shipbuilding and coal mining, he witnessed the togetherness of communities and the industries that sustained them and stayed long enough to see their loss’.

Chris Killip, retrospective is co-curated by Tracy Marshall Grant and Ken Grant. Exhibition supported by the Isle of Man Arts Council and Culture Vannin.

Helen and her Hula-hoop, Seacoal Camp, Lynemouth, Northumbria 1984
© Chris Killip Photography Trust, all images courtesy Martin Parr Foundation 

Information and images above are from The Photographers Gallery website where you can find further details; we always recommend checking the site for any updates before visiting.

The Photographers Gallery, 16 – 18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW – please check the website for opening times, admission prices and other events.

3rd November 2022

Exhibition, The Photographers Gallery London, 24th June – 25th September 2022
How to Win at Photography: Image-Making as Play

Header images: Left – Belly Button, 2018, Centre – Julia’s Twitter 2, 2016, Right – Julia’s Twitter 1, 2016, all images © Yuyi John

Exhibition, University of Edinburgh Main Library, 6th May – 1st October 2022
Robert Blomfield: Student of Light

Header image – Forth Road Bridge, through telescope, 1965 © Estate of Robert Blomfield

The beauty of street photography unfolds over time as it unerringly becomes a documentation of social history. Capturing lifestyles, fashions and general day to day living, a picture can give so much more detail than a textbook, and this newly curated exhibition does just that. Details from the press release below.

‘Spellbinding images that capture a city in the midst of momentous change are to be exhibited for the first time. Scenes of Edinburgh in the 1950s and 60s, taken by acclaimed street photographer Robert Blomfield, will go on display at the university where he studied and honed his artistic talent.

Robert Blomfield: Student of Light will be the first presentation of the late photographer’s work since a blockbuster show at Edinburgh’s City Art Centre four years ago. Blomfield was completely unknown prior to the 2018 show, but the beauty and significance of his work immediately struck chords. Now an exhibition at the University of Edinburgh – the first to feature his colour photography – looks set to enhance his blossoming reputation.

© Estate of Robert Blomfield

The show, in the university’s Main Library, will have a particular focus on Blomfield’s time as a student. The exhibition also showcases some of Blomfield’s camera equipment, including lenses, enlargers, filters and an astronomical telescope used to achieve far depths of field.

Blomfield came to Edinburgh to study medicine in 1956 and found himself in a city full of light and shadow, and a university bursting with post-war enthusiasm and vigour. He took a camera with him almost everywhere, even into class, producing shots of lectures, labs and student life that are unique in their access and their composition’.

Robert Blomfield: Student of Light will be on display at the University of Edinburgh from 6th May until 1st October 2022

Main Library, George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LJ
Opening times: Mon – Sat 10 – 4 

Photos and details above reproduced with permission from the University of Edinburgh’s press office.

11th May 2022

Front of House: A documentary photography series by Marge Bradshaw which aims to raise awareness of the devastating impact of Covid-19 on musicians in Greater Manchester and Lancashire

It’s been a tough year for the music industry and, whilst events are gradually opening up, the struggle is still very real. Photographer Marge Bradshaw told us how she is compiling a thought-provoking collection of images of musicians alongside their own individual stories…

Jo Byrne

“A world without live music feels like living in a house with no windows. Live music is uplifting, it’s nourishing, it’s social glue. It’s well and truly missed by me.”  – Rob Young (header photo)

According to the Music Venues Trust, over 550 grassroots music venues remain under immediate threat of closure, representing the potential permanent loss of over 5,000 jobs, over 100,000 concerts, over 300,000 performances by musicians, and over 1 million temporary employment opportunities for gig economy workers.

This evolving photographic series and resulting online exhibition aims to raise awareness of the scale and impact of this situation, and support musicians’ work. As someone who works in culture, music and events photography, I know the devastating outcomes faced by musicians, production and touring crews as well as everyone who relies on the grassroots sector.

Alongside each portrait you’ll find the personal stories of each musician, as well as links to their work and projects. Take a read, give them a follow and show your support.

 Conal Duffy

All photographs were taken working within Covid-19 restrictions using social distancing.

Please get in touch if you’d like to be involved in the series: I’m particularly interested in photographing those who are under-represented in the current gallery, especially women and people of colour. View the full gallery, including portraits and stories here.

 Geraldine Green

The Merrie Collective
by Ryan Bell

The potential and promise commonly found in the arrival of a new decade can be difficult to see in 2020, what with the world being plagued by pandemic mere months in, plunging the globe into a state of fear and panic not felt for generations. However, history has shown that in times of hardship humanity often prevails, that we are at our most gladiatorial with our backs pressed against the wall. Creativity blossoms in the face of adversity.

I imagine there are many instances of this to be found worldwide, though I can speak directly from one experience that I have been privileged to be a part of, which began with an open call for those aged 16-25 and located in the West Yorkshire city of Wakefield and its surrounding area, with the desire to contribute to a council funded project, tentatively titled Our Diary.

Envisioned as a time capsule for the lockdown era, the aim was to compile photographs to feature in a photography zine, capturing “the new normal” from the perspective of young Wakefield creatives, through a celebration free print through DIY self-publishing. Spearheaded by Wakefield born photographer Emily Ryalls and curated with nine other contributors, This Too Shall Pass (the revised zine title) was produced through four months of weekly Zoom meet-ups, with the process of taking pictures during a pandemic allowing for a refreshing amount of creative expression and experimentation in a period of otherwise global aimlessness.

With contributors hailing from a range of creative backgrounds from photography graduates to freelance writers, graphic designers to fabric embroiderers, our documentation of “the new normal” was enjoyably personal, with humour found in makeshift graduation caps and dinner table date-nights, to austere reminders of the lives we’ve put on hold in nightclub mirror balls dumped in skips, and grandparents waving from the distance of the doorstep.

The project proved not only fruitful for the photographs, but for the relationships formed between the collective contributors. Having found Wakefield not to be the easiest location to find other like-minded creatives at the best of times, the decision was made to work together onwards under the title of The Merrie Collective; with an aim to inject soulful art back into our local spaces, with the name deriving from the medieval moniker for Wakefield – The Merrie City.

With immeasurable support from The Art House (a lifeline for local artists and creative businesses) The Merrie Collective has been fortunate enough to have acquired a studio and gallery space inside The Ridings Shopping Centre. Like many of its kind, The Ridings has seen ups and downs since its opening thirty-seven years ago, with economic recessions and the demand for online retail making it not quite the draw it once was. However, the utilisation of one of its empty units as a studio/gallery, alongside another as a separate exhibition (excellently curated and produced by Niamh Donnelly) has been universally well received. With walls proudly plastered in black and white snaps of local life, the installations feel emblematic of the city and of the project, creativity and community in times of adversity.

The Merrie Collective has no plans of slowing down anytime soon despite COVID-19’s best efforts (us Northerners can be quite stubborn that way) and through a shared belief that most storms can be weathered, that “this too shall pass”, the group has big plans for the future such as print production, further exhibitions and workshops as well as ambitions for an independent newsprint.

On behalf of The Merrie Collective, the writer would like to thank Wakefield Council for funding this invaluable opportunity to create This Too Shall Pass, and The Art House for their continued support throughout and onwards. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual and not necessarily representative of Wakefield Council or The Art House.

This Too Shall Pass is a self-published zine by The Merrie Collective, printed at Merrie Studios, Wakefield and can be ordered here

More information on The Merrie Collective can be found on their website and you can follow their progress on Instagram

Words and all content provided by Ryan Bell, photos © The Merrie Collective, design logo by Katie Hopkins

27th October 2020

Back in June, we covered the innovative Pride Inside, a huge billboard campaign that gave a voice to the LGBTQ+ community in light of the usual annual celebrations that take place across the country being quashed by social distancing. With over 120 queer photographers and contributors taking part, the digital billboards were seen in cities and busy road intersections across the UK. We’re delighted to hear that images from the campaign have now found a permanent online home as a visual exhibition on Google Arts & Culture, more details from the press release here…

PRIDE INSIDE’S CELEBRATION OF QUEER LIFE IS TO LIVE ON PERMANENTLY ON GOOGLE’S ARTS & CULTURE PORTAL

Pride Inside, the nationwide LGBTQ+ campaign which saw more than 1,000 digital billboards taken over with images of queer people celebrating Pride from their homes this summer, is to live on permanently on Google Arts & Culture.

Pride Inside is the brainchild of writer, performer and drag star Ginger Johnson, who wanted the visibility of LGBTQ+ people on the streets of the UK to continue despite Pride events being cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic…

It is estimated around 10 million people saw the images across the two weeks they were displayed in June, giving amazing visibility of LGBTQ+ people during Pride month. The initiative also raised awareness of the work of grassroots LGBTQ+ charities, with Pride Inside partnering with LGBT+ Consortium to collect donations to be distributed to organisations across the UK who provide vital services for the queer community.

Now following an agreement between Pride Inside and Google, the campaign will live on permanently on the Arts & Culture portal, a non-profit initiative which works with cultural institutions and artists around the world to preserve and bring the world’s art and culture online so it’s accessible to anyone, anywhere. The project has been delivered in partnership with LGBTQ+ arts charity Raze Collective, which has administered the collection on behalf of Pride Inside. It will feature more than 200 images in 20 different collections from the Pride Inside campaign, including billboard layouts, site photography and other as yet unseen images.

Ginger Johnson said: “This year the LGBTQ+ community had to shout it a little louder to spread our message of Pride and solidarity – from digital drag shows to socially-distant protests, people from all walks of queer life worked together to adapt to the challenges we have all been facing. Seeing the kind of passion and determination that fuelled projects like Pride Inside in action around the world has been truly inspiring, so we are delighted that the project has found a permanent home online, where it will live as a snapshot of our community at a unique moment in time.”

The online exhibition can be found here on Google Arts & Culture, alongside numerous other exhibits from museums and artists from around the world

Our original article can be read here and you can check out more from Pride Inside on their website

Header shot: Seana – Birmingham by Emma Jones

9th September 2020