Open Rooms #15: Common Ground
WEDS 8 SEPT / 6.30 PM / TWITCH / BOOK HERE
Crossing Sectors is an Open Eye Gallery training program for socially engaged photographers. It supports practitioners to explore how culture can be co-authored with a variety of cross-sector organisations and participants.
This year, we offered two Crossing Sectors participants micro commission opportunities in the lead up to LOOK Photo Biennial 2022, which will be centred on climate catastrophe and environmental concerns. The two commissioned participants, Marge Bradshaw and Ciara Leeming, developed socially engaged projects which responded to the climate crisis locally.
Marge Bradshaw explored the loss of green space to housing and industrial development which is happening in her town of Westhoughton, Greater Manchester. This involved testing out different participatory approaches to instigate a creative conversation about the local environment, record and document what might be lost or gained, share photography skills and provide a creative outlet for sharing hopes and fears. You can see some of the photographs and stories created by local runners, the wider community and Marge in Howfen Spaces.
Ciara Leeming engaged with the litter-picking community across Greater Manchester. Many councils have started providing equipment to community members, encouraging the growth of volunteer litter picking groups. Ciara connected with online groups across the region, inviting members to send photographs of items found during their picks and to share their thoughts about this environmental crisis and their motivations for taking action. More than 30 people contributed, sending her 450 images. She also attended litter picks across the city, making portraits of litter pickers which were then worked into collages, along with items she collected from the streets. The work, Picking up the Pieces, can be seen here.
Joining us for this event, Marge and Ciara will be in discussion with Emma Case, Open Eye Gallery’s Social Practice Producer, to discuss the Crossing Sectors program and the resultant micro commissions.
About the panel
Marge Bradshaw is a socially engaged documentary and portrait photographer interested in people, place, and heritage. Based in Westhoughton, Bolton, she uses a mixture of photography and ethnographic research to share the authentic stories of participants; often giving a platform for voices who are not usually heard. With a particular interest in inclusive practice, her work has previously been exhibited at the Science Museum, London, Museums Northumberland, and Bolton Museum & Art Gallery.
Ciara Leeming is a photographer and writer based in Manchester. She has worked on collaborative documentary projects with groups poorly served by the media, including Roma migrants, and is now developing a socially engaged practice.
About LOOK Photo Biennial 2022
LOOK Photo Biennial is delivered by Open Eye Gallery. Every two years, we work with local, national and international partners to build a programme that exchanges culture and learning. The theme of LOOK Photo Biennial 2022 will be centred on climate catastrophe and environmental concerns. We’ll use photography and visual culture as a way of understanding the past, present and future impacts on communities, audiences and people around the globe. We’ll do this by looking at climate migrancy, the history of land and water management, where our food, clothes and electronic items come from and how this will be impacted by restricted resources, and how photography has been used as a tool to tell us about ourselves and our heritage.
Image: Marge Bradshaw
WEDS 8 SEPT / 6.30 PM / TWITCH / BOOK HERE
Crossing Sectors is an Open Eye Gallery training program for socially engaged photographers. It supports practitioners to explore how culture can be co-authored with a variety of cross-sector organisations and participants.
This year, we offered two Crossing Sectors participants micro commission opportunities in the lead up to LOOK Photo Biennial 2022, which will be centred on climate catastrophe and environmental concerns. The two commissioned participants, Marge Bradshaw and Ciara Leeming, developed socially engaged projects which responded to the climate crisis locally.
Marge Bradshaw explored the loss of green space to housing and industrial development which is happening in her town of Westhoughton, Greater Manchester. This involved testing out different participatory approaches to instigate a creative conversation about the local environment, record and document what might be lost or gained, share photography skills and provide a creative outlet for sharing hopes and fears. You can see some of the photographs and stories created by local runners, the wider community and Marge in Howfen Spaces.
Ciara Leeming engaged with the litter-picking community across Greater Manchester. Many councils have started providing equipment to community members, encouraging the growth of volunteer litter picking groups. Ciara connected with online groups across the region, inviting members to send photographs of items found during their picks and to share their thoughts about this environmental crisis and their motivations for taking action. More than 30 people contributed, sending her 450 images. She also attended litter picks across the city, making portraits of litter pickers which were then worked into collages, along with items she collected from the streets. The work, Picking up the Pieces, can be seen here.
Joining us for this event, Marge and Ciara will be in discussion with Emma Case, Open Eye Gallery’s Social Practice Producer, to discuss the Crossing Sectors program and the resultant micro commissions.
About the panel
Marge Bradshaw is a socially engaged documentary and portrait photographer interested in people, place, and heritage. Based in Westhoughton, Bolton, she uses a mixture of photography and ethnographic research to share the authentic stories of participants; often giving a platform for voices who are not usually heard. With a particular interest in inclusive practice, her work has previously been exhibited at the Science Museum, London, Museums Northumberland, and Bolton Museum & Art Gallery.
Ciara Leeming is a photographer and writer based in Manchester. She has worked on collaborative documentary projects with groups poorly served by the media, including Roma migrants, and is now developing a socially engaged practice.
About LOOK Photo Biennial 2022
LOOK Photo Biennial is delivered by Open Eye Gallery. Every two years, we work with local, national and international partners to build a programme that exchanges culture and learning. The theme of LOOK Photo Biennial 2022 will be centred on climate catastrophe and environmental concerns. We’ll use photography and visual culture as a way of understanding the past, present and future impacts on communities, audiences and people around the globe. We’ll do this by looking at climate migrancy, the history of land and water management, where our food, clothes and electronic items come from and how this will be impacted by restricted resources, and how photography has been used as a tool to tell us about ourselves and our heritage.
Image: Marge Bradshaw
