Member Article

Yorkshire in the lens as photo festival heads to Harrogate

The inaugural Photo North festival opens its doors in Harrogate this weekend, bringing iconic photographers and “thought-provoking” images to the region.

Attracting an estimated 5,000 to the event at Harrogate International Centre, it is hoped the festival will be the first of many, adding to the £2.57bn GVA the creative industries currently contributes to the region.

Curated by Peter Dench and Sharon Price, the festival is taking place at the Harrogate International Centre and will be covering the themes of music, war and marginalisation. The three day festival features a raft of big names from the worlds of photography and the moving image.

Brought together in a single venue in Harrogate, a back drop of street food vendors, live music and licensed bars will play host to exhibitions, book zine’ stalls, photo walks, portrait salons, workshops, portfolio reviews, screenings and live chats, all championing photography and open to the public for the three-day festival.

There will be exhibitions from artists such as Tish Murtha, Harry Borden, Jane Hilton, Tom Oldham, Tom Stoddart, Paula Bronstein, Jenny Matthews, Anastasia Taylor Lind and Dean Belcher. Alongside the visual feast on offer, there will also be hands-on professional workshops and a live music social for the duration of the event.

Tom Oldham’s ‘Last of the Crooners’ collection will be amongst those exhibited at Photo North.

Other music-themed programming includes ‘My First Vinyl’ by record label founder Dean Belcher.

He’ll be showcasing a collection of these images in his ‘My First Vinyl’ portrait salon at Photo North in Harrogate which will give visitors the change to be photographed with the first record they bought.

Photo North’s war theme will feature a commemoration of the centenary of the First World War through ‘Women and War’, portrayed through unseen images by the era’s front-line women photographers, and Tom Stoddart’s ‘Shadows of War’, a video that marks the centenary of the signing of the Armistice.

Paula Bronstein’s World Press Photography Award-winning series on the effects of war on Afghan civilians will serve as a poignant reminder of the impact today.

Finally, the austerity theme features daily screenings of the ‘Sleaford Mods – Invisible Britain’ film from 2015, Tish Murtha’s celebrated images of austerity and the young, and newcomer John Bolloten’s uncompromising ‘Nothing to See Here’ collection, which documents homelessness and addiction in Bradford.

Peter Dench and Sharon Price are founders of The Curators and the well-renowned former film and photography gallery White Cloth Gallery.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Photo North .