See Change
Look Photo Biennial 2022: Wigan and Leigh, 09 Dec 2022 - 05 Feb 2023
With the warming world impacting every corner of the globe, a sea-change, or dramatic transformation, is necessary in our attitudes to nature and our place within it. One of the challenges of the changing climate is its scale and complexity, which requires us to connect our individual lived experiences with events unfolding in distant parts of the world. Photography brings us closer, allowing us to see the effects of a warming world as well as the actions of people taking steps to help us avoid and adapt to its effects.
The photographic projects in See Change, made by artists working in northern Britain and abroad, emphasises this interconnectedness of climate-based issues. The exhibition shifts the focus from the apocalyptic imagery that makes up much of the media coverage of the issue, instead directing our gaze towards the quieter stories of people and communities adapting to and anticipating a changing world.
The photographic archive in this exhibition was established by Then There Was Us and Open Eye Gallery and was originally produced as an online platform. The archive addressed the urgent issue of climate change and the many ways in which people are adapting to a rapidly changing world.
The show has been co-curated by two local, early career arts professionals, Sara Lawlor, and Hannah Tipping, working alongside curator Mario Popham and Producer Charlie Booth. As part of their role with the Open Eye Hub, the Community Fellows researched and selected pieces from the archive that resonated with them and that reflected issues they felt were relevant to local Wigan borough audiences.
With works by:
Simon Bray, Katie McCraw, Joshua Turner, Gabriel Fernandez, Edwin Huddleston, Charlotte Dobson
Installation views
Horrocks Gallery, Spinners Mill, Leigh, Greater Manchester, UK
