(update to the post below, the former Carlisle Post Office is now the Halston Aparthotel)
From the website for Carlisle Photo Festival:
“Carlisle Photo Festival was founded in 2012 with the wish to focus on bringing emerging photographers’ work out to the public by displaying their work in urban and accessible spaces.The aim for Carlisle Photo Festival is to create an international and national platform for contemporary photography.A platform that explores all aspects in photography and where emerging talents, professionals, amateurs and photography enthusiasts can meet”
As soon as I heard about this event I knew I wanted to visit it – however we could only visit the festival on Sunday (the last day) so only two of the venues were still open: the Old Post Office and The Galley.
The last time I was inside the Post Office building on Warwick Road it was probably to buy stamps or send a parcel or something and was in slightly better nick than what you can see now. It closed in 2008 and they are about to convert it into a smart new hotel (not sure if there are any original features left to be preserved though). I took a sneaky pic through a hole in the partition into the old sorting area beyond.
There were some interesting ideas shown in the photos, although we thought that some of them were a bit pretentious (e.g. a bland photo of a few heather plants on a hillside, which honestly could have been anywhere). I liked the central images taken with old cameras of various places within Cumbria, the Kansas pics, microscope images taken using a phone, and the face-swap photoshop portraits.
Next we headed to the Galley, located in the Atlas Works , originally a Victorian textile mill. I honestly didn’t know this gallery was here so that alone was worth the visit. I found these photos a bit more interesting although the only ones I can remember as I write are the Lithuanian ones. I think I would have preferred to see more photos from each photographer; in some cases there were only 2 images per artist.
Overall, I personally would have liked to have seen more colourful images – perhaps the selection were chosen to match the more industrial settings, not sure. I seem to remember the brightest ones!
The Old Post Office, Warwick Road, Carlisle
The Galley, Atlas Works, Nelson Street, Denton Holme, Carlisle
pinkpebbleperson 