Impressions Gallery is an independent contemporary photography gallery in Bradford, England. It was established in 1972 and located in York until moving to Bradford in 2007. Impressions Gallery also runs a photography bookshop, publishes its own books and sells prints. It is one of the oldest venues for contemporary photography in Europe.[1]
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| Established | November 1972 |
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| Location | Centenary Square, Bradford, England |
| Coordinates | 53°47′35″N 1°45′21″W / 53.793006°N 1.755769°W |
| Founder | Val Williams and Andrew Sproxton |
| Director | Anne McNeill |
| Website | www |
Operations
editImpressions Gallery is a charity, a not-for-profit organisation, funded by Arts Council England and Bradford Metropolitan District Council.[2]
The gallery is host to a temporary exhibitions programme with on average six exhibitions each year, often solo retrospective shows of mid-career photographers, and also some group shows.
The gallery space incorporates a bookshop. The organisation publishes its own books and catalogues, often to accompany its exhibitions, either by itself or in association with others such as Dewi Lewis Publishing and Photoworks. It has published work by Melanie Friend, Paul Floyd Blake, Joy Gregory, Anna Fox, Trish Morrissey, Tessa Bunney, Gavin Parry, Andy Lock, Stefan Ruiz and Laurie Long.
History
editThe gallery was founded by Val Williams and husband Andrew Sproxton in November 1972, opening in York with two exhibitions, Butlin's by the Sea by Martin Parr and Daniel Meadows (its first exhibition), and Whitby by Frank Meadow Sutcliffe.[3][4][5][6]: 25 Parr and Meadows showed work at Impressions throughout the 1970s, with solo shows of Parr's Home Sweet Home in 1974 and Beauty Spots in 1976 and Meadows' Free Photographic Omnibus in 1974 and Clayton Ward in 1978.[7] Some of the other photographers whose work the gallery has shown are:
In 1976 the gallery moved to Colliergate in York, then moved again to nearby Castlegate in York in 1992. In 2007 the gallery moved to Centenary Square, Bradford.[8]
The gallery's archive, dating back to 1972, was given to the National Media Museum, Bradford, in 2013. It is called the 'Impressions Gallery Archive', a part of the National Photography Collection. It was believed then to be the first time a publicly funded photography gallery has had its archive cared for and made accessible by a national institution.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Greenhalf, Jim (28 May 2013). "National Media Museum to take on Impressions Gallery archive". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ^ "Impressions Gallery". Arts Council England. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ "The Sproxton Award for Photography". University of the Arts London. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ "Photographer Daniel Meadows' social snapshot of Britain". Western Mail (Wales). 13 July 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ Jobey, Liz (2 September 2011). "Street Life". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ Parr, Martin; Bajac, Quentin (2010). Parr by Parr. Amsterdam: Schilt. ISBN 978-9-053307-37-3.
- ^ Val Williams, Daniel Meadows: Edited Photographs from the 70s and 80s (Brighton: Photoworks, 2011), 21.
- ^ "Made In England - First Impressions in Bradford!". BBC. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ "Anne McNeill: Director, Impressions Gallery". Prix Pictet. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ "The People Judging the RPS International Print Competition Archived 28 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine", Royal Photographic Society. Accessed 24 July 2014.