West Midlands Photography Collective – Free Exhibition 13 Oct – 3 Nov

The West Midlands Photography Collective (WMPC) is holding its first public exhibition, ‘Birmingham Now, Before Then’, a photographic celebration of Birmingham’s people and places. 

The event will run in the ground floor event space of The Lansdowne, 25 Hagley Road, Birmingham, from 13 October – 3 November and is free to attend. 

Twenty-five images – all taken this year – will be on show, selected from more than 850 responses to a call for entries from both WMPC members and the general public. 

Established in September 2018, WMPC has amassed a community of more than 2,000 members, including professional, amateur and hobby photographers. The group organises regular photo meets across the region and aims to help keen snappers develop their skills. Over the last year, WMPC followers have shared 15,000 images to their Instagram hashtag (#westmidsphotocollective) 

Fay Loewy, co-founder at WMPC, said: “There have been some significant changes to Birmingham’s skyline and public realm this year, so we felt it was an ideal opportunity to showcase the changing city. The Midlands photographic scene is very passionate and takes great pride in documenting the urban landscape.

“We are very grateful to Way of Life for helping us make our first photo exhibition a reality, together with Dunns Imaging for producing the prints for the exhibition, and the kind sponsorship of U+I.”

Way of Life is providing the exhibition space at The Lansdowne, a £37million 

build-to-rent development comprising 206 apartments in Edgbaston. 

Kate Anniss, Way of Life’s art curator, was invited to sit on the exhibition judging panel. Kate not only curates the artwork on display in all Way of Life buildings, she also owns art consultancy Mylo Art and curates exhibitions featuring emerging and established artists, as well as advising and sourcing art for interior designers and private individuals. 

She said: “I was blown away by the standard of the entries, which made it very hard to eliminate some images from the final cut. Those that made it on to the walls at The Lansdowne truly deserve to be there.”

‘Birmingham Now, Before Then’ is on at The Lansdowne, 25 Hagley Road, from Sunday 13 October – Sunday 3 November. The exhibition is open from 1pm to 8pm daily. Entry is free. 

Photo captions 

Three of the 25 finalists: 

BTTower.jpg, by John Gilbert 

Street.jpg, by Dean Holland 

CentenarySq.jpg, by Joanna Noble