Ramsgate youth charity Project MotorHouse has been working with Sony World photography award winner Tim Topple and students from Royal Harbour Academy and Chatham and Clarendon Grammar.
The project aimed to help the young people see the camera as ‘an art tool’ much the same as a paint brush or a pencil. Students experimented with techniques such as double exposure and long exposure and have used props and lights to create images that were born out of their imagination.
Now the public can see their work in exhibition Abstract Lab at the Shopfront Gallery in Ramsgate’s Addington Street.
Tim Topple said: “Seeing the students take what they learned about experimental photography and then create some stunning and personal images was a joy.”
The students selected which images to put in the show and, together with Tim and Project MotorHouse’s Jo Mapp, they curated the exhibition space with 35 chosen pieces.
Jo said: “Addington Street is fast becoming a hub for creative outlets with many of the abandoned shops now being occupied by independent businesses. At Project Motorhouse we want our young people to feel part of that thriving community and love for them to be in the thick of it. The Shopfront Gallery was the perfect choice for this youth led exhibition.”
Project MotorHouse says it is grateful for the support of the Garfield Weston Foundation, Kent Community Foundation, the Pack Family Endowment Fund and the Lawson Endowment for Kent which makes this work possible.
Abstract Lab
Shopfront Gallery, 28 Addington Street, Ramsgate
February 24-27, Thursday-Sunday 11-5pm