For my Bronze Arts Award: Part B Explore the Arts as an Audience Member, I chose the Creative Parallels exhibition by Joe Cornish and David Ward held at the Joe Cornish Gallery in Northallerton. I visited the exhibition twice - on the 1st of November 2023 and the 20th of December 2023.

The exhibition consisted of image pairs based on a similar theme, emotion, composition or subject. One of each pair was by Joe Cornish, the other by David Ward, so each set was a comparison between their photography styles.

I visited the Creative Parallels exhibition because I am interested in Joe Cornish and because it was one of the nearest photography exhibitions to our house. I was also interested in how David Ward’s work differed from Joe Cornish’s, and what influence they had on each other.

The venue was excellent - the room was quite large but not too large, making it easy to see everything, but not crowded. There was enough space to step back and compare the images, and also step forward and examine them. I appreciated how the photos were hung in scroll frames on the walls, meaning there was no glass between you and the image, so there were no reflections. Joe Cornish, having a very ecological mindset, chose the frames as they were more environmentally friendly. 

I enjoyed comparing the images’ differing styles and compositions. With several of the comparisons, it was not immediately obvious what the relation between the images was, so the viewer had to actively compare the photos. Since I have already researched Joe Cornish for another section of my Bronze Arts Award, I found his images fascinating and realised how unique his photos were, but also how the professional collaboration and friendship of David Ward has influenced his images.

If I had one complaint, some parallels were Joe Cornish above David Ward, but others were Joe Cornish below David Ward. I found this a little confusing, but because their photography styles are so different and they had put their signatures on their prints, it wasn’t a big problem. I would definitely recommend the exhibition to others (but sadly I can’t because the gallery has now closed). It was intriguing to compare and contrast the two photography styles, appreciate the beauty of the shots and discuss the composition.

In the future, I would like to visit more photography exhibitions, especially landscape photography exhibitions to enjoy the photography and to learn from other photographers’ images.