Category: Exhibition

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

Exhibition, Goodman Gallery, London, until 25th August 2020 
David Goldblatt | Johannesburg 1948 – 2018

Header image: Margaret Mcingana, who later became famous as the singer Margaret Singana, at home, Sunday afternoon, Zola, Soweto, October 1970

Born in 1930 in Randfontein, David Goldblatt’s photography captured a reality of living through South African apartheid that was never shown on the news, his images conveying a very real picture of life and the people in his homeland; he is famously quoted as saying, “I was drawn not to the events of the time but to the quiet and commonplace where nothing ‘happened’ and yet all was contained and imminent”.

Domestic worker on Abel Road, Hillbrow, March 1973

His interest in taking photographs started at a young age, but running the family business sidelined his pursuits behind the camera until 1963, when he sold the company to focus solely on a career in photography. Having become a part of numerous artistic circles in Johannesburg, he was able to integrate with a wide range of groups in the community which, in turn, allowed him access to shoot in situations and capture portraits where others couldn’t. As his love for photography grew, Goldblatt founded the Market Photography Workshop to allow for visual literacy and photographic skills to be taught to the younger generation. He went on to receive numerous awards and honorary doctorates and to have his work exhibited worldwide.

Baby with child-minders and dogs in the Alexandra Street Park, Hillrow, 1972

This latest exhibition captures his view of Johannesburg from 1948 until his death in 2018; the shots included will provide an important social document for many years to come. Excerpts from the press release below:

Left: An office worker from Tsmeb on holiday,
in a rooming house on Abel Road, Hillbrow, March 1973
Right: Rochelle and Samantha Adkins, Hillbrow, 1972

‘Goodman Gallery presents Johannesburg 1948 – 2018, the acclaimed South African photographer David Goldblatt’s first major solo exhibition in London since 1986. Renowned for a lifetime of photography exploring his home country, Goldblatt produced an unparalleled body of work within the city of Johannesburg, where he lived for 70 years. At age 17, Goldblatt would hitchhike from Randfontein, the small mining town where he was born, into Johannesburg. He walked around the city until the next morning, talking to night watchmen and following his intuition: “People would ask me what I was doing, and I would say, ‘I’m poeging. I’m walking around the city; I’m learning the city, and trying to take photographs.” This process became the foundation of his practice.

Coronation Restaurant in the Diagonal St Fruit Market, January 1962

The exhibition maps Goldblatt’s evolution of work in a city divided by structural racism and subject to waves of trauma and resistance. Goldblatt was engaged in the conditions of society – the values by which people lived – rather than the climactic outcomes of those conditions. He intended to discover and probe these values through the medium of photography…

Schoolboy, Hillbrow, June 1972

David Goldblatt died at his home in Johannesburg in June 2018. Working until shortly before his death, he remained, to the last, “a self-appointed observer and critic of the society into which I was born”. In 2011, art critic and social commentator Mark Gevisser described Goldblatt as “the doyen of South African photography” who cast “so clear an eye over the South African landscape […] that he has become the country’s visual conscience”.’

Portrait photographer and client, Braamfontein, 1955

David Goldblatt | Johannesburg 1948 – 2018 is on now at Goodman Gallery until 25th August 2020

Goodman Gallery, 26 Cork Street, London W1S 3ND
Opening times Mon – Fri 11am – 5pm
As with all public spaces, if you’re feeling unwell please stay at home to keep everyone safe

All images and exhibition details are reproduced with permission from Goodman Gallery; photos are © David Goldblatt, please do not reproduce without agreement

Intro by Siobhan

6th August 2020

Online Exhibition, James Hyman Gallery, 22nd June – 26th July 2020
Shirley Baker: A Different Age

Header photo: Manchester 1985

‘James Hyman Gallery is pleased to present an online exhibition of largely unseen photographs by Shirley Baker, selected from the photographer’s estate. The exhibition includes her rare colour work as well as iconic black and white images.’

Manchester 1965

Shirley Baker (1932 – 2014) is one of Britain’s most fascinating yet unexplored social documentary photographers, particularly considering the era in which she started actively shooting. A woman practicing street photography in post-war Britain was a rarity, her gritty, expressive style a poignant reflection of the times. Shirley’s pictures show the flip-side to the hype of London’s swinging 60s, instead concentrating on the reality of the local people in the area around her Manchester home. From traditional flat caps to the vintage style and sometime glamour of the working class, the images are beautifully composed without being posed, her work continuing to record urban life over the following decades.

For those who question the validity of street photography, Shirley Baker’s pictures go a long way to explaining how, especially over time, capturing the everyday scenes around us offers an important visual timeline as good as any history book, memories for some and a chance to better understand the past for others.

Top left: Manchester (Man with Pigeons) 1967
Top right: Stockport Road, Stockport 1967
Bottom: Chester 1966

Further details here from the press release:

The exhibition focuses on Shirley Baker’s celebrated street scenes photographed around Manchester and Salford and explores her depiction of older adults.

Nan Levy, Shirley Baker’s daughter, who has curated the show with James Hyman, explains, “Having been in lockdown for the past weeks and only just being allowed out, it made me think of our elderly folk who are still unable to see their loved ones. They cannot even visit their sons and daughters or take pleasure from playing their grandchildren for fear of catching the virus. I have put a collection of Shirley’s photographs of the elderly taken from the 60s to the 80s showing them taking pleasure from the simple things in daily life that sadly are not possible at the moment”.

Manchester 1968

Shirley Baker, writing of her motivations captures a world of street life that seems like a distant memory, “I love the immediacy of unposed, spontaneous photographs and the ability of the camera to capture the serious, the funny, the sublime and the ridiculous. Despite the many wonderful pictures of the great and famous, I feel that less formal, quotidian images can often convey more of the life and spirit of the time”.

Untitled 1983

All images are reproduced courtesy of the Shirley Baker estate and James Hyman Gallery. The online exhibition is live on the gallery’s website now until 24th July 2020.

You can see more of Shirley Baker’s photography here.

Words excluding press release by Siobhan

6th July 2020