They will start at White Cloth Gallery; if you want to take part you should arrive from 18:00 to 19:00.
Bring a camera (any camera) – and clothing/footwear appropriate for city wandering in the British summer.

Where? White Cloth Gallery is found on Aire Street – close to Leeds City Station, City Square and Whitehall Road.
The nearest multi-storey car parks are at The Bourse (NCP) and Criterion Place – both off Swinegate on the opposite side of the station to the gallery (a 5-10 minute walk). Leeds’ on street parking is free after 6pm and there is a fair amount of spaces on and around Park Place.

When?

• Tuesday 4th June - Facebook signup (optional)
• Tuesday 2nd July - Facebook signup (optional)
• Tuesday 5th August - Facebook signup (optional)
  - socialising from 6pm (activities depart up to 7pm)

Entry: £2.50. Exposure Leeds supporters will not be charged entry.
Note: refreshments are not included in the entry fee. 

These events are supported by

Over the past few years, and after many visits, we have explored and photographed the old town of Lagos in Portugal including its marina, its harbour, its coastline and some of the events that take place throughout the year.

Each day spent in Lagos involves a photo walk where we usually spend time looking for interesting architectural details and views of the town, both of us having a different perspective on the city.

This talk gives us the opportunity to show some of the wide ranging images and techniques we have used in Spring, Summer and Autumn.

• Street Life – people, events and retail.
• Coast – beach and harbour.
• Architecture – details and structures.

Exhibition prints from ‘This is my place‘ will also be available to view

Where? White Cloth Gallery is found on Aire Street – close to Leeds City Station, City Square and Whitehall Road.
The nearest multi-storey car parks are at The Bourse (NCP) and Criterion Place – both off Swinegate on the opposite side of the station to the gallery (a 5-10 minute walk). Leeds’ on street parking is free after 6pm and there is a fair amount of spaces on and around Park Place.

When? Tuesday 7th May – socialising from 6pm (talk starts at 7:00pm – please note time change)

Entry: £2.50. Exposure Leeds supporters will not be charged entry. Sign up on Facebook (optional)
Note: refreshments are not included in the entry fee. 

The event is supported by

Images © John and Jan Dolan – used with permission; all rights reserved.

Corinthian Helmet’ by Stuart Burrows, ‘Machine Gunner’ by Ian Wray, ‘Charge’ by Ian Biggins

Hi Ian – thanks for offering to talk to Exposure Leeds about your current exhibition – how did it come about?

Well it’s strange really that the Royal Armouries museum is a major feature in our home city, but we had never done anything together before. It all started when the museum approached us asking if our members had any material to demonstrate the effect war has on individual peoples lives.
Although we do have some good travel photographers in the society, that sort of stuff was a bit beyond our remit.

We were interested in doing something with the Armouries though, so we had a meeting with Karen Whitting, the museum’s Head of Creative Programmes and she told us about their ‘Inspired By’ series of exhibitions. This is a series of installations and exhibitions of all kinds, with the emphasis on the inspiration behind the artists work.

The upshot was the decision to put together a series of images, shot by our members, of the actual museum and its collections.

The LPS exhibition at the Royal Armouries museum, Leeds

What types of access did you have – and how did you go about planning shoots – was it around themes, or individual projects or..?

Yes we arranged four shoots in total to give our members flexibility to arrange things around their day jobs. We were generally there in small groups during opening hours, chaperoned by the Royal Armouries’ project manager Jo Sullivan who subsequently did a brilliant job of arranging the exhibition from the museum’s side.

Although the Armouries is happy for visitors to take pictures for none commercial use, they do not usually allow flash or tripods to be used. Obviously this would have severely limited the quality of the work we produced, but the museum kindly waived these latter two restrictions. One thing they, quite understandably could not allow us to do, was have the display cases opened. This created some challenges in avoiding reflections on the glass panels, but really focused our minds as far as to sorting out the lighting goes.

Members of the Leeds Photographic Society with museum staff.

As for themes, other than having the title of ‘Royal Armouries In Focus’, we deliberately avoided giving a specific brief, so as to leave each photographer free to work to their own strengths shoot in their own style. Bearing in mind the wide ranging styles of our members, this was really the only way to go.

How has response been to the exhibition so far?

The exhibition opened at the beginning of March and will be running through to mid June. In a word, the response has been fantastic! The museum team were thrilled with the quality of the 34 finished images we produced and it has had a great reception from the public.

What did your photographers say about the experience?

I think many of our members really enjoyed the sense of purpose that ‘shooting for the exhibition’ gave them. Furthermore, every image is accompanied by a caption explaining the authors thought processes and motivations in capturing their particular image. This added an extra dimension to each photographer’s task.

Ian Wray – LPS publicity officer, Chris Walker – Royal Armouries C.E.O. and Stuart Burrows – LPS Vice President

Are there any related events?

The Royal Armouries were very kind in arranging a private view for their staff and our society members. It was nice for our members to be able to meet the rest of the team who dealt with the museum’s side of the production.

How has this benefited the Society?

The publicity we received has been wonderful, with coverage in the local press and radio. What has also been really good for us is the information board which accompanies the exhibition and explains to the public what the Leeds Photographic Society is all about. The exhibition has helped a lot in creating interest and raising the profile of our Society.

View of the LPS exhibition at the Royal Armouries museum, Leeds

Want to tell us more about LPS – and it’s activities?

Our membership is currently at around 110 and we welcome photographers of all abilities from beginner and casual snapper to pro. We have a real spread of people talented in diverse fields from wildlife to abstract art. During the winter we meet weekly, hosting talks by both visiting speakers and our own members as well as running a schedule of in house and inter-club competitions.

We have just entered our summer season and will now meeting fortnightly with a more practical based itinerary of evening shoots and tutorials.
In addition to this, over the spring bank holiday weekend, from Saturday 25th to Monday 27th we will be holding our annual print exhibition at Salt’s Mill, Saltaire in Bradford. These are generally the best works produced by our members over the past 12 months and they will be on display on the top floor of the mill as part of the Saltaire Arts Trail weekend. Our members will be on hand throughout the weekend to chat and answer any queries, so we’d welcome anyone and everyone to call in.

Finally – thanks for giving us this opportunity to tell you about our exhibition and the Society. It’s been nice speaking to you.

‘Royal Armouries Planet’ by Eva Pitt, ‘Armour Side’ by Gudge Chana, ‘Ornamental Sword’ by Terresa Bedows

Royal Armouries: In Focus runs to 30 June at Leeds’ Royal Armouries museum. There is a full schedule of our events on the LPS1852 website. They also have a Facebook page  which is a great place to see some of the varied work produced by our members, and along with Twitter (@lps1852) to receive updates on their events.

All image © Leeds Photographic Society or the respective member, as identified in the captions. Used with permission – all rights reserved.

Photographs often owe a lot to their location – the first ever photographic image captured a view from a window and many forms of photography since rely on or benefit from how the place the image is taken  impacts on the finished images.

This is my place is a new project which calls on photographers of all levels to look at the places they visit regularly, to investigate and find ways of capturing them in images or involving them in the types of photography they already produce – and to share those images with the rest of us.

The project launched with an exhibition of images from seven photographers – contributing projects from Leeds, York, North Yorkshire and Kentucky (USA). The exhibition can be seen at White Cloth Gallery, Aire Street, Leeds 9-25 April 2013 and continues online afterwards.

The project itself will also continue online with project galleries, contributor interviews, challenges and also in real world activities.

We invite anyone interested to contribute to the project by email, via messages on our Facebook page or by posting in our (newly-launched) dedicated Flickr group.

More soon…

Distinctive, moody, dramatic, human, quirky, creative… all words used to describe Ade Wilson’s images of Leeds, it’s people and surroundings. McFade Photography and Training’s ethos is to inspire; by creating exceptional images to clients and showing trainees a whole new, creative approach to photography. Enjoy an evening of subjects as diverse as Strobist, HDR, Leeds Architecture, Landscape, Night Photography and super cars – where Ade will take you through the thought processes behind many of his images.

For more: www.mcfade.co.uk

This event is in association with

Last summer, while the famous centre was still taking shape and the excitement of the Jubilee, Cultural Olympiad and Olympics proper was upon us, Exposure Leeds invited local photographers to point their lenses at our city’s unique shops and their settings.

We wandered around the streets, backstreets, markets and yards, finding colour and colourful characters, as well as highlighting the fabulous architecture, a form of retail therapy that doesn’t need a shopping bag or max out credit cards.

A number of the images taken are now exhibited in the White Cloth Gallery where they can be enjoyed in the cafe area with a cup of their very fine coffee, or something a little stronger if you prefer. Curated by Jon Eland, each image tells part of the story of our city shops and shoppers, interpreted by individual photographers.

Settings included the Victoria Quarter, Bird’s Yard, The Corn Exchange and of course Kirkgate Market, home of the original Marks and Spencer Penny Bazaar It’s an eclectic mix, pretty much like our Exposure Leeds photographers.

This online gallery gives a broader selection of images…

‘Just a little retail therapy‘ runs in the White Cloth Gallery until April 8th and features work by Anne Akers • Clare Bell • Neil Brennan • Jan Dolan • John Dolan • Russ Dixon • Jon Eland • Lucinda Dransfield •  Stephen Goodfellow • Phil Jones • Sue McMurdo • Martin Musiol • Tommy Jay Tee

Main image © Anne Akers. Gallery images © respective photographers. All images used with permission

So, Anne-Marie – tell us a little bit about the main project with the young people and how it came about..?

A few years ago when I was in the middle of my degree at Leeds College of Art I began a project about my sister, Danni. We have never lived together, and at the time she was in her early teens. The project moved in a few different ways and the story that eventually came from it was as much about her life in a remote rural village, as it was about our estranged relationship. I developed the idea of a wider project that explores the experience young people have growing up in isolated rural environments, and became intrigued by the contrast of these young transitional lives against the dramatic and seemingly ‘fixed’ landscape around them. The unique history, challenges and complexities of the contemporary British countryside sometimes go unnoticed, just like the lives that unfold in these spaces. IdeasTap gave me the funding to begin exploring these ideas in the North Pennines, and so I got shooting!

How did you get involved? What was your contribution/involvement?

First I contacted a few local organisations that work with young people: Dale Force was a project running out of Killhope Museum at the time who programmed events, workshops, training etc for young people in Weardale, Teesdale and Allendale, and UTASS (Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Service) ran a number of youth clubs and other activities in the area. Both organisations were great to work with as they were so enthusiastic about creating opportunities for young people, and had a lot of support from volunteers. Just to be clear, the areas I was visiting in the North Pennines were not commuter villages, some of the primary schools had only a handful of children and some of the young people lived in farms that were 30 minutes drive even from the nearest tiny village!

I visited some of the activities programmed by these groups and also got involved with other families by word of mouth. I would talk to whoever I was working with to understand their opinions, and asked them to fill in questionnaires and direct some of the shooting to sites of significance for them- I really wanted to avoid bringing my own agenda. They were often very savvy, not country bumpkins! They shared a lot of the aspirations you would expect from adolescents, and confirmed for me this ‘land of contrasts’; feeling safe from crime and free to explore a vast area yet also prevented in engaging with a lot of things they had an interest in such as shopping, music concerts and even seeing their friends outside school. Some of them associated the city as being synonymous with crime and drugs, while others dreamed of New York and LA!

How did the project take shape?

I visited the area a number of times over a 6 month period, sometimes meeting with new people and sometimes revisiting those I had met previously. Collecting portraits, and then looking at the landscape and local community as well, to gather an encompassing picture of the area.

Was a book always an end goal of the project?

Not at all. I really don’t think too much about the ‘end’ of a project when I’m working on it. The goal is only ever to create a documentary, as honest to the area and the people as possible. It is impossible to be entirely objective but I am very aware that the work I create relates to real lives, real lived experiences. I don’t want to be the person who comes to an area, observes at a distance then leaves, I think about what happens in those lives after I’ve gone and I want my practice to be fair and responsible. Also, I personally find it very difficult to fully draw a line under a project, I want to be able to return to it should that ever be appropriate. I definitely want to continue working with some of the people and organisations I have met in the North Pennines.

The book came about when I began to collaborate with Bhavani Esapathi. She is a writer, so the book was a natural site we could share for both of our lines of enquiry. Bhavani is exploring the issues surrounding ‘the contemporary archive’, in a time when digital technologies make the nature of archiving a concern to all art institutions. Her project and mine intersect in that we both explore space in its figurative and literal sense: the archive relates to a specific time and place, just like the young people in my exploration, and both require documentation to bring them to notice. Divided We Fall gave us some funding to produce the book and exhibition together, and although I have been working on The Rugged Places for a little while now, this really represents the start of The Rugged Archive.

How did you find putting the book together?

Bhavani and I were in dialogue for quite a while before hand and spent some time with the collection of images I had built up, then I pulled some out and we edited them down and sequenced together. My partner James Wright did all the design work, he specialises in design for print and knows the project intentions and my style well, and we were very happy with his little touches. Also Chris Woodley-Stewart, the Director of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership, got involved in the later stages and wrote the introduction. He knows the issues of the area where the images were shot very intimately. He is an advocate for the area although he recognises the challenges it presents to some people. I really like his introduction as it again relates to the real lived experience, and provides some practical balance against Bhavani’s essay which muses over the problematics of documentational art.

Where next for the project and for you?

Bhavani and I intend to fully manifest The Rugged Archive. We want to spend some time in Scotland: Argyll and Bute, The Highlands, The Hebrides or similar! At the moment our collaboration is young, we discuss a lot and develop ideas together but we want to physically bring our work together as the primary component of our practice. In residence in a rural area, we will use local archives and collaborate with communities to produce an integrated multimedia project combining text, image, found and recorded materials.

We are also in the process of programming a series of photography related events for Arts@Trinity when it reopens after refurbishment.

The book is limited to 100 numbered copies and will be available to buy for £10 at White Cloth Gallery, Waterstones, Village and a number of other locations around Leeds when it launches.

The exhibition closes tomorrow – Saturday 24th March 2013 (they’re open for the Reel Iraq cinema season).
It’s then replaced by the Exposure Leeds ‘Just a little retail therapy‘ exhibition.

All image © Anne-Marie Atkinson. All rights reserved; used with permission.

This exhibition, in the White Cloth cafe, shares highlight images from a number of those who took part.

Details

Where: White Cloth Gallery (Café space), Aire Street, Leeds LS1
When: Mon-Tue 11am-10pm • Wed-Sat – 11am-11pm

Related Links

• ‘An eclectic mix‘ – an introduction to the exhibition and a gallery of images.
• ‘Heart and soul of the city‘ – our feature on the exhibition that partially inspired the photo walk the exhibition images are from.
• ‘Captured: A Retail Therapy Private View‘ – images from the private view of the above exhibition.

Image © Lucinda Dransfield. All Rights Reserved.

This event is in association with

See also – photography exhibitions • our events

If you would like your events to feature here, please email them to calendar[at]exposureleeds[dot]org

Hello. I am a saxophonist based in Leeds. I have recently set up a website but have no photography to use. I am looking for a photographer who would be interested in working with me to create some really interesting and exciting photos. The photos will be a main feature on my website design and credit will be given on my site (including links to there website, Facebook etc.) Unfortunately I can not offer payment but all photographs can be used by the photographer in anyway they would like.

Would it be possible to advertise my proposal on your site to see if anyone would be interested in working with me?

Daniel