photo: Leeds Gallery

It’s exciting to see such a diverse collection of work under one roof. YP ONE brings together The Yorkshire Photographers, 15 to be precise, at Leeds Gallery in Munro House from October 23 until November 19. The subject matter is, of course, Yorkshire itself; from landscapes, to cityscapes, rooftops, rivers, interiors, exteriors and coastlines. The exhibition is a celebration of Yorkshire’s varied landscapes and its history which have provided the inspiration for artists, writers and photographers for hundreds of years.

There are the more traditional pieces but these have been juxtaposed with work by forward thinking photographers on the cutting edge of digital manipulation technology. The more abstracted images like those by Karl Wilson focus on distorting cityscapes and modernity whilst David Spate’s sumptuous country photographs celebrate the beauty of the natural world. The pieces on show collate as a well rounded visual description of Yorkshire. They show its history and its future.

The Yorkshire Photographers have found beauty in the most unlikely places and have shown some of the region’s more famous assets in a new and very flattering light. Chris Oaten’s ‘Humber Bridge‘ with its blue hues shows the famous landmark near Hull in all it’s glory, cutting it with a striking figure in red. Daniel Pape’s brooding ‘People Under the Pier’ seems to transcend the limits of time as people are captured enjoying a very Victorian seaside construction. Brian Larkman’s ‘Eastmoor Interior Window Wall’ and ‘Eastmoor Mold Wall’ could be still lives, due to a calmness to their decaying beauty. Having the Yorkshire Photographers at Leeds Gallery makes sense, it’s a strong exhibition which is loyal to it’s subject matter and a fantastic advertisement for the county.

Emma Bakel