Impressions Gallery is an independent contemporary photography gallery in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, England. It was established in 1972 and located in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

until moving to Bradford in 2007. Impressions Gallery also runs a photography bookshop, publishes its own books and sells prints. It is one of the oldest venues for contemporary photography in Europe.

Operations

Impressions Gallery is a charity, a not-for-profit organisation, funded by

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

and

Bradford Metropolitan District Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, ...

. The gallery is host to a temporary exhibitions programme with on average six exhibitions each year, often solo retrospective shows of mid-career photographers, and also some group shows. The gallery space incorporates a bookshop. The organisation publishes its own books and catalogues, often to accompany its exhibitions, either by itself or in association with others such as

Dewi Lewis Publishing Dewi may refer to either a Welsh or Southeast Asian name. Neither is pronounced as "dewy". Welsh name Dewi (, also or ) is an alternate or diminutive form of the Welsh masculine given name Dafydd ("David"). It is most famously borne by the p ...

and

Photoworks Photoworks is a UK development agency dedicated to photography, based in Brighton, England and founded in 1995.

. It has published work by Melanie Friend, Paul Floyd Blake, Joy Gregory, Anna Fox, Trish Morrissey, Tessa Bunney, Gavin Parry, Andy Lock, Stefan Ruiz and Laurie Long.

History

The gallery was founded by

Val Williams Val Williams is a British curator and author who has become an authority on British photography. She is the Professor of the History and Culture of Photography at the London College of Communication, part of the University of the Arts London, and ...

and husband Andrew Sproxton in November 1972, opening in

with two exhibitions, ''Butlin's by the Sea'' by

Martin Parr Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in p ...

and

Daniel Meadows Daniel Meadows (born 1952) is an English photographer turned maker of digital stories, and a teacher of photography turned teacher of participatory media. Life and career as photographer Meadows was born in Great Washbourne, Gloucestershire, " ...

(its first exhibition), and ''Whitby'' by Frank Meadow Sutcliffe. Parr and Meadows showed work at Impressions throughout the 1970s, with solo shows of Parr's ''Home Sweet Home'' in 1974 and ''Beauty Spots'' in 1976 and Meadows' ''Free Photographic Omnibus'' in 1974 and ''Clayton Ward'' in 1978. Some of the other photographers whose work the gallery has shown are: In 1976 the gallery moved to

Colliergate Colliergate is a street in the city centre of York, in England. History The are occupied by the street lay outside the Roman York city walls, city walls, but fell within the Canabae of Eboracum, a residential and industrial area. It is belie ...

in York, then moved again to nearby Castlegate in York in 1992. In 2007 the gallery moved to Centenary Square, Bradford. The gallery's archive, dating back to 1972, was given to the

National Media Museum The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum G ...

, Bradford, in 2013. It is called the 'Impressions Gallery Archive', a part of the National Photography Collection. It was believed then to be the first time a publicly funded photography gallery has had its archive cared for and made accessible by a national institution. Anne McNeill has been director since 2000.The People Judging the RPS International Print Competition
",

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

. Accessed 24 July 2014.

References

External links

* {{coord, 53, 47, 34, N, 1, 45, 20, W, type:landmark, display=title Photography museums and galleries in England Art museums and galleries in West Yorkshire 1972 establishments in England Art galleries established in 1972 Tourist attractions in Bradford Culture in York