EXHIBITION 19 MAY – 20 MAY 2018
BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSUEM
Reclaiming Our Industrial Might 2018
Reclaim Photography Festival 2018 is proud to announce: Reclaiming Our Industrial Might a special weekend festival exhibition, hosted by the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Museum, capturing the people, places and industries, past and present, of the Black Country region. The exhibition will showcase images in digital, projected image and print format, from projects by regional photographers and our invited guests. View some of the successful projects below.
We will also be hosting two photo walks: Black by Day* and Red by Night on Saturday 19 May 2018. These will include an opportunity to view our displays and the history of the Black Country within the Museum complex, in addition to viewing our pop-up display in the Rolfe Street Visitor Centre, consisting of 192 prints from photographers world-wide. *Black by Day includes a short visit to Dudley Archive and Local History Service to view our festival digital display and will include a short talk by archivist Richard Lewis.
Festival Awards
Reclaim Photography Festival is proud to announce our third festival awards. Our team of festival curators selected a range of prints for our gallery exhibition hosted by the Light House Media Centre from 4 May – 30 May 2018 and the John Lewis Community Hub from 31 May – 26 June 2018. Awards for our gallery exhibitors include:
*exhibition alongside internationally renowned photographers;
*exhibition exposure in two city galleries;
*inclusion in exhibition marketing and promotion campaign;
*inclusion of a selection of gallery exhibitors’ work in Lenscratch magazine*.
Work Experience Opportunity – Reclaim Photography Festival is offering work experience opportunities for young people to assist with the planning and delivery of our special group autumn gallery exhibition.
Exhibition Opportunity – Reclaim Photography Festival is offering the opportunity to a selection of photographers, to exhibit in a special autumn exhibition and publication.
Please note all details are subject to change. The Museum will be closed between 5pm and 7pm on Saturday 19 May 2018, while we prepare for the evening event. Click on the link to download our RPF2018 Exhibitor List and Information Pamphlet . View our festival programme on issuu.
We would like to thank Walter Rothwell for opening this year’s festival with a photography talk at the Light House Media Centre. For their support with the Industrial Might project we would like thank Boro’ Foundry; Coombes Wood Canal Trust, Heartlands Metal Craft and Longwear Alloys. Thank you to photography lecturer Nicholas Priest and Level 3 Photography students at Stratford Upon Avon College for the work experience collaboration with us.
For their continuing support we would like to thank Ulf Fågelhammar, Mike Borg and Mattia Marchi, Reclaim Photography Sweden. We are also indebted to Bradley Pearce Photography; Palm Labs, Birmingham; KBM Framing Gallery, and Phoenix Web Solutions.
Finally, thank you to our festival partner venues, Kelly Jeffs, and the staff and volunteers, Light House Media Centre; John Lewis Community Hub, Birmingham; Dudley Council; Andy Dutton, Laura Wakelin and Tessa Lovell, Black Country Living Museum; Richard Lewis, Dudley Archive & Local History Service, GLL; Darren Campbell, Gunmakers’ Arms, Birmingham; Heidi McIntosh, Wolverhampton City Archives, and Wolverhampton City Council.
Phil Loach Gents, 1976
Supporters at Brierley Hill FC take a half-time toilet break, in the shadow of Round Oak steelworks. The images for the display formed part of my exhibition “A Time it Was”, at Himley Hall last year, showing people, places and events around the Black Country, from the 1970’s to the 1990’s. www.thesilverimage.co.uk
Chain Boy ~ 1975 A young lad was wandering around the streets of Kates Hill Dudley, with a length of chain on his shoulder. Factory Women ~ 1974 Women workers in a machine shop in Lye Stourbridge. Lunch Break 1975 ~ Factory workers at a chip shop in Langley. All images copyright Phil Loach. All rights reserved.
Bradley Pearce The Forge 2018
The Forge is a project that focuses on the still-operating old industrial processes in the Black Country. These photos were taken at Longwear Alloys. www.longwearalloys.com Metal is smelted into ingots before they are shipped across the globe. The process takes about twenty minutes and these photographs show key parts of this.
www.bradleypearcephotography.com All images copyright Bradley Pearce. All rights reserved.
Peter Hodgson Old Main Line. Boatyard, Tipton, 2016
Once the beating and blackened heart of British Industry, the 14 mile stretch of land between Birmingham and Wolverhampton has undergone many transformations since its heyday with its original canal highways superseded by rail and later road networks. www.alterart.co.uk/peter-hodgson
Shropshire Union Canal. Broad Street Basin, Wolverhampton. Walsall Canal, Bilston. New Main Line. Albion Industrial Estate, Sandwell. All images copyright Peter Hodgson. All rights reserved.
Ken Harrison Soho Foundry Office Row
These images for the display are part of a set of over 40 photographs from my 2011 exhibition and self-published project, “A Picture of Smethwick’, showing the listed buildings in Smethwick. All of the images were taken on black and white film, scanned from original negatives. www.kdharrison.co.uk
Soho Foundry Pattern Store 2011. Smethwick New Pumping Station 201. Waterloo Hotel 2011. All images copyright Ken Harrison. All rights reserved.
Bradley Pearce The Canal 2018
The Canal is a project by Midlands-based photographer Bradley Pearce taken at Hawne Basin, Halesowen.
Hawne Basin is situated in an industrial area of Halesowen. The original basin was opened in the early 1800s to serve Hawne Colliery. By 1898 the basin was enlarged to include railway access and sidings, and later served local industries including Walter Somers, Stewards and Lloyds, as well as those further away on the canal network. On 5 June 1967, traffic ceased and the basin closed.
Today, the basin is managed by Coombeswood Canal Trust, and is now home to a small number of permanent residents who restore working boats to their original condition and continue to preserve the industrial heritage of the area. www.bradleypearcephotography.com All images copyright Bradley Pearce. All rights reserved.
Bradley Pearce Boro’ Foundry 2018
The Foundry is a project by Midlands-based photographer Bradley Pearce taken at The Boro’ Foundry Ltd. www.borofoundry.co.uk
The photographs depict a traditional iron foundry and machine shop. The combined skills show some of the old with the new, with patterns, castings and machining being carried using some of the latest sand printing technologies and CNC machining techniques. The environment is taken into consideration using some materials that are 100% recycled and other by products being found alternative uses down the line. www.bradleypearcephotography.com
All images copyright Bradley Pearce. All rights reserved.
Andrew Crawford Heartlands 2018
Heartlands Metal Craft specialise in the manufacture and installation of contemporary and traditional gates. Their team of highly experienced craftsmen work with mild steel, cast iron, stainless steel and wood, and pride themselves on the quality and durability of their work. I hope these images bring their craft and dedication to life. www.crawfoto.co.uk All images copyright Andrew Crawford. All rights reserved.