The photographers were chosen not only for the quality of their work but also for their contrasting approaches. Individually they have attained distinction in their own specialisation and collectively they have provided a unique and complementary picture of the Cathedral. The scale of the project provides a unique opportunity to compare and contrast the different work and approaches of the artists to the same subject. The artists themselves have found this of value and the dissemination of the work will provide a lasting important outcome.

The photographers are Marketa Luskacova, John Kippen, John Riddy and Dryden Goodwin. The appointments have been made collaboratively with the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art and the Photography Department at the University of Sunderland’s School of Arts, Design and Media.

Unprecedented access for the photographers both to the building and to those engaged in its functioning encouraged them to seek creative ways to record the people and events at the Cathedral. As each photographer engaged critically with the subject, itself a great artistic statement, the work they produced is more than a simple documentary record. It is an interrogation, a visual critique of the space and its activities. For many, this will have an effect on the ways in which the Cathedral might then be experienced. This is also of special significance in a momentous year with a number of distinctive features in the history of the Cathedral, not least of which is its operation under a new constitution.

One outcome of the project has undoubtedly been to create a new audience for photography as well as a new understanding of and appreciation for the medium. In an average year, the Cathedral has in excess of half a million visitors, many of whom only rarely encounter original works of art. As an accessible medium, photography helps to break down barriers between the individual and the arts. Each photographer has also participated in lectures and workshops, both in Durham and at the University of Sunderland’s School of Arts, Design and Media, where workshops generated by the work of the artists were hold both with and without the presence of the artists themselves. The photographers have been encouraged to work with the undergraduates from the School of Arts. The students have, in turn, appreciated this as one of the many attractive features of living and working in the north-east. Wider publicity will also, no doubt, provide further incentive for future applications to the School of Arts.

The project will result in a series of small-scale shows and a large-scale exhibition. A high quality publication is also planned as a long-term benefit of the project. This will play its part in enhancing appreciation of photography as a medium and in bringing it to a wider audience.

Contact: Bill Hall