Responding to Light: the diversity of modern photography
© Mandy Barker: Soup: Burnt
A Celebration of Contemporary British Photography
The second in our series of high-profile annual exhibitions showing national and international artists, this show will feature some of the leading lights in their fields of photography working in the UK today.
Literally drawing with light, photography is an art which encompasses a wide range of techniques, and has been responsible for some of the most memorable images of the 20th and 21st centuries, and ultimately for changing the course of history, through its ability to convey a concise and immediate message.
The exhibition will showcase some of the huge range of techniques, subjects, range and skills associated with contemporary British photography, including digital and analogue technologies, in large and small scales, 2D and 3D forms.
© Susan Derges: Ocean Flowers 4
There will be a full programme of exhibitor events, including talks, multidisciplinary workshops, and masterclasses throughout the exhibition run.
Mandy Barker, Ray Spence, Marianthi Lainas, Joe Cornish, Charlie Waite, and landscape photographer Vanda Ralevska will present talks on their work, as well as Susan Derges in conversation with historian of photography Mark Haworth-Booth.
Exhibition curated by Susan Brown FRPS.
16 Sep - 4 Nov 2023
Jubilee Gallery
Events
‘An Unnatural Journey’ a talk by Mandy Barker
‘Both Ends of the Spectrum’ a talk by Ray Spence
‘The Scenic Detours’ a talk by Vanda Ralevska
‘A Step Away from the Screen’ a talk by Marianthi Lainas
‘A landscape Photographer’s Life’ a talk by Joe Cornish
Woodland Masterclass with Paul Mitchell
‘Behind the Photograph’ a talk by Charlie Waite
‘An Introduction to Expressionist Photography’ workshop with Valda Bailey
Flag books and fold-out books workshop with Megan Stallworthy
Inside the gallery
Stewards in the Gallery
On various dates throughout the exhibition we will have stewards on hand in the gallery to answer any questions you may have. There will also be a number of guided tours. Take a look at the schedule below to help you plan your visit.
Click on the calendars to view in full screen.
Images from the Preview Evening
Photos by MAKE Southwest Friend, Nigel Dutt
About the exhibitors
Joe Cornish
Joe’s practice entails the careful selection of his tools: oftentimes he opts to use a long lens, where other landscape photographers might favour a wide-angle lens. This allows him to capture a wealth of detail in his landscapes. He works almost like a printmaker, with a careful eye for picking out pattern and design, layering textures, and mapping detail across multiple planes of focus.
Mandy Barker
Mandy is an international award-winning photographic artist whose work has involved working with marine plastic debris for more than 13 years. She has worked with scientists to raise awareness of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, highlighting the harmful effects on marine life.
Marianthi Lainas
Marianthi produces camera-less cyanotypes responding to littoral landscapes. She lives at the tip of the Wirral peninsula in the North West of England, and finds her surrounding seascapes to be a constant source of inspiration. Her recent work has explored the fluctuation of natural cycles of tidal islands, shifting sands, and migratory birds of the Dee Estuary near her home through a combination of photographic techniques and mixed media processes.
Ray Spence
Ray is a fine art photographer, lecturer, and author who specialises in analogue and infra-red photography. His use of wet plate collodion positives exemplifies photography as a craft, in the sense that they are made by hand.
Susan Derges
Susan endeavours to capture invisible scientific and natural processes: the physical appearance of sound vibration, the evolution of frogspawn, or the cycles of the moon. She is perhaps best known for her pioneering technique of capturing the continuous movement of water by immersing photographic paper directly into rivers or shorelines.
Valda Bailey
Valda paints with her camera. Based in Sussex, she is a leader in multiple exposure photography in the UK. Informed by her background in painting and influenced by artists as well as photographers, she uses in-camera multiple exposure and intentional camera movement to create dynamic images.
Charlie Waite
Charlie is one of the world’s leading landscape photographers whose fascination for photography began through an interest in theatrical lighting. For him, the making of an image is a multidimensional production, and ‘making’ is the operative word. The craft of his photography is in the composition, in overcoming the two dimensionality of the image, creating depth, and revealing more than is concealed.
Interview with photographer and exhibitor, Valda Bailey.
Interview with photographer and exhibitor, Marianthi Lainas.
Plan your visit
Open Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm.
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