My exhibition came to an end today and I can safely say it’s been one of the most interesting months of my life. I’ve learned loads about the local arts scene in the North East and received some really good feedback on the show. I’ve also discovered a lot more events that are on at the Civic Hall, including the Hilarity Bites comedy night which was absolutely amazing. If we can get enough support for the next one they may well come back!
I couldn’t help but feel a little sad taking the pictures down today and packing them up but I hope to be able to use them again in another exhibition. I’ve been researching possible venues that may be interested in hosting film photography and will hopefully have more exciting news coming up soon.
As well as that, Civic Hall Stanley have also asked me to hold another exhibition in September this year, so who knows what I’ll come up with. Not even me at this stage! I’ve been brainstorming a few ideas (and boring people to death in the process) but I’m pretty sure there’ll be some pinhole photography in there and potentially some time lapse stuff too, amongst other things.
I didn’t know what to expect when I went and put 60 double exposures up on the walls, but I’ve been really happy with the reaction the photos have produced. It was a very proud moment to see them all on the walls together as a series. The project started in November and was quite labour intensive (in comparison to digital photography) but being able to walk round the show with my family and friends made it all worthwhile. I am now no longer known as the crazy lady who goes on 7 mile walks taking photos of pylons, well maybe I am, but at least I have a purpose now.
Whenever I popped into the Civic Hall for different events it was nice to see that the photos actually made people stop in their tracks (for better or worse) and quite a few people got into (sometimes lengthy) conversations with me about the merits of film, the portrayal of the local area, and photography in general.
I’d like to share a few of the comments I received for the exhibition as it’s quite encouraging to see that film photography still has a place in the modern world:
“Your pictures are absolutely beautiful, each one tells a story.”
“I really like the Stanley photography collection because of its collage style created by the multiple exposures. I particularly like the images featuring pylons and the more minimalistic shots in the collection. The colour palette is gorgeous in these images!”
“Can’t decide on a favourite! Good to see places I pass daily depicted in this format. Great!”
If you didn’t get a chance to see the exhibition in the flesh then you can now check out the images on my website in the ‘Exhibition’ section. You can find them at http://www.helentaylorphotos.com
helentaylorphotos.com 