Exhibition Launch Night – Wednesday 24th February, 5pm onwards

Seeing and Being Seen is a collection of new photographic works by Adam Booth and collaborators Lee Deaville & Richard Turner curated by Blank Media Collective. A common theme between Booth’s and Deaville & Turner’s works are the way in which they replicate the cinematic within beautifully lit and framed photographic images. Their works compliment each other through their exploration of traditional genres of landscape (Adam Booth) and portraiture (Lee Deaville & Richard Turner). Seeing and Being Seen highlights the photographic works by these three exciting up-and-coming practitioners from Blank Media Collective’s online Artist’s Portfolios.

Adam Booth’s work concentrates on creating images of hidden beauty in banal everyday objects. He studies shape, space and symmetry within the urban landscape, using lighting to affect the way in which the viewer can interpret the most mundane subjects. “I want to create a sense of intrigue with the images, confusing the viewer and questioning the subject matter of the work.” (Adam Booth). Much of Booth’s work has an eerie feel, adding a sense of isolation to the places that would usually be bustling with human activity.

Lee Deaville & Richard Turner work in partnership to create stunning still and moving images. Much of the work within this exhibition comes from their critically acclaimed film, Waiting For The End Of The World, which was shown within Exposures Short Film Festival in 2009. Often underpinned with social context, realism is a prominent feature, which is provided by the wide range of characters captured.

As the Artistic Director, Deaville projects an often personal and self-reflective undertone. The work portrays a range of faces to capture the arbitrariness and variety of life. “Eyes (‘windows to the soul’) are a noticeable feature of my work, as they address the audience directly and invite a sense of introspection.” (Lee Deaville). The images are presented with dark, dramatic colours, and use a shallow depth of field to accent the subject’s features. Each of the images tell a story, and whilst they may appear quite literal in their message, contain dark subtexts and narratives.

Normal opening times for the openspace (bar) are Wednesday to Saturday’s evenings. Outside of these opening times the exhibition can also be viewed by appointment, please contact the Box Office on 0161 615 0500 for further details and to arrange a viewing.