Exhibition

West Coast Photo Festival - Chapter One, June

3 Jun 2021 – 30 Jun 2021

Regular hours

Monday
Closed
Tuesday
10:00 – 18:00
Wednesday
10:00 – 18:00
Thursday
10:00 – 18:00
Friday
10:00 – 18:00
Saturday
10:00 – 18:00
Sunday
10:00 – 18:00

Timezone: Europe/London

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Online

Hosted by: Signal Film and Media

Exciting Debut International Photography Festival explores & celebrates the Cumbrian West Coast.

About

Chapter One: Online Edition Launches Thursday 3 June 2021

With our first ever Festival having to be postponed in March 2020, just days before the first Coronavirus lockdown, we’re proud to announce the first of our two-part relaunch: the online Summer Showcase features exhibitions & workshops, outdoor photography installations, open call competition & more.

Join us at West Coast Photo Festival | 2021 (signalfilmandmedia.com) for:

  • Mishka Henner with Vaseem Bhatti Reveal New Commissioned Digital Artwork, Energy Goast
  • West Coast on Film with Cumbrian artists RL Wilson, Julia Parks and Rachel Capovila,
  • Labouring the Landscape: Participatory photography led by Robert Parkinson,
  • New work by emerging, mentored Cumbrian artists,
  • The Fells with Iron Ribbons: Cumbrian young people led by artist & DJ, Ashley Holmes

Plus keen photographers of all levels are invited to join our Open Call Competition in partnership with Florence Arts Centre and submit their own responses to the West Coast on the theme of ‘Elements’. The top 5 submissions will be exhibited in print and displayed as part of West Coast Photo Festival: Chapter Two in October.

Online Workshops and talks bring the Festival into your own home. Public workshops and talks include making cyanotypes inspired by nature, and exploring the possibilities of digital art. Communicating a Crisis, an online panel discussion on the 10th June chaired by Mariama Attah, Curator from Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool. Featuring Joycelyn Longdon from Climate in Colour and West Coast Photo commissioned artists Mishka Henner and Vaseem  Bhatti on how they use the power of photography and visual culture to communicate the immediacy of the impending Climate Crisis.

‘We’re delighted to be able to relaunch the first major festival of photography and digital art in this part of the UK, a stretch of 100 miles of industrial and coastal towns lining the edge of Cumbria - England’s second largest county. Its wealthier and more ‘picturesque’ neighbour might be The Lake District, however, the West Coast boasts starkly beautiful natural and striking man-made landscapes surrounding industrial coastal towns. Remnants of coal mines and the alien tombs of Sellafield Nuclear Power Plant contrast with Scafell Pike, only miles away. This exciting new festival reveals and celebrates the unique identity of this ‘hidden’ area and the character of its people through the work of leading international and regional artists using photography to articulate local, national and international identities. Such a Festival provides a rare opportunity in one of the UK’s most deprived areas to see world class exhibitions and exciting new commissions, and showcase a new portrait of this area as it changes.‘ - Loren Slater, Director & Charlie Booth, Programme Director

Much has changed over the last year. We were due to launch just before the UK was plunged into a national lockdown and Barrow hit the headlines for its high coronavirus rates. As we relaunch, we’re reflecting on the ways we now engage with contemporary photography, how we can use digital art to connect with each other. As a result, this first half of the Festival is moving completely online in June and original artists have changed work to reflect their experiences during this past tumultuous year. We’ve also included a new set of artists who are responding to issues such as the ongoing mental health pandemic worsened by continual lockdowns and isolation, and the climate crisis and how it affects the Cumbrian landscape.

Exhibiting artistsToggle

Mishka Henner

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