Photographing the English North (1890-1990)
- Submitting institution
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The University of Bolton
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 0049_32_REF2_IG_01
- Type
- M - Exhibition
- Venue(s)
- Bolton Museum and Art Gallery
- Open access status
- Compliant
- Month of first exhibition
- March
- Year of first exhibition
- 2020
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Photographing the English North (1890-1990) was an exhibition at the Bolton Museum Art Gallery accompanied by a supporting catalogue and conference presentation.
Conceived and curated by Dr. Ian Glover with support from Dr. Keith Roberts, the project presented works by national and internationally acclaimed photographers through extensive research from a number of archives representing 100 years of photography of the North of England.
Contextual Information: The exhibition was a work of visual scholarship bringing attention to a hitherto overlooked tradition of provincial social-documentary photographs. It examined how English “northerness” had been recorded and used to portray people, objects and places within the region, from the early Victorian ethnographic styles of the 1890s through to recent, more varied documentary approaches. The exhibition included archive prints from key names in international photography, arranged alongside major pieces from the Humphrey Spender collection. The images were presented in close order of geographical location (east to west) with shots spanning a 100-year period.
The research elaborated an under-appreciated history of photography of the English North, which both expanded the canon of images of “northerness” and decisively challenged stereotypical views of Northern Englishness.
The exhibition premiered at Bolton Museum Art Gallery on 14th March 2020 and was subsequently presented online to allow viewing during lock-down. The exhibition had already been seen by 5,699 people before it was closed due to COVID regulations. It was described by Francis Hodgson as ‘a powerful group of pictures’, and the critic Helen James acclaimed it as ‘a treasure trove of great photographs that are a joy to see in one place'.
The supporting catalogue Photographing the English North (1890-1990) contains an essay by Glover, contextualizing the exhibition. Glover and Roberts gave conference papers documenting their work at the online Festival of Worktown, University of Bolton (14th July, 2020).
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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