David Mather. if something that happened
3D Virtual Exhibition Tour

Make It Easy Gallery
18 Queensbridge Rd, Nottingham, NG2 1NB

'of something that happened' seeks to capture through a series of 38 black & white analogue photographs, some of the variety of creative individuals Mather met during working on the EU funded Real Creative Futures project hosted by New Art Exchange in Nottingham during the Covid-19 pandemic.

David is a self-taught photographer more comfortable with contemporary landscapes, so choosing to make portraits placed him well outside his comfort zone. With the impact of the pandemic and lockdown, seeking out to make portraits of creative people felt the correct response to a challenging time when many people were re-evaluating what was important.

Mather deliberately chose to keep things simple and not to follow the perceived wisdom of large format portraiture using 4x5, but felt the spontinaity of a handheld, 35mm manual SLR camera suited the mood best, teaming up with tried and tested Kodak Tri -X 400 ASA film, kept the reportage feel.

Due to the pandemic, once the initial lockdown had lifted, most of the portraits were taken outside following the 2m rule. It allowed him to explore spaces in and around Nottingham that you don't always have time to visit.

He hopes the portraits imbue a sense of creative calm during the period of the pandemic when much of the creative sector was in turmoil.

Simultaneous to Mather’s exhibition in the adjoining gallery space is a presentation by Rowena Kemnitz Ward named Caravan Girl.

About Make It Easy

Make It Easy is the combination of two groups of friends who want to share their dedication and passion for analogue photography.The idea behind Make It Easy is to create an environment where people of any background can learn, share and practice analogue photography.Make It Easy came about when The Photo Parlour in Nottingham and Take It Easy Lab in Leeds decided to see how they could create a space to support people of all abilities in making the mystery of analogue photography simple. Through online resources, as well as physical access to facilities such as cameras, darkrooms and scanners, our aim is to help people start making photographs instead of taking them.

From 4th October 2022 to 26th November 2022
Find out more: makeiteasylab.com and instagram.com/davidmather123

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