Sabah Al-Nur / Morning of Light: Two Visions of Bradford features work by photographer Nudrat Afza and painter Martin Hearne.
Says Ken Woods, co-founder of Trapezium Gallery: “We are delighted that Martin and Nudrat have come together to exhibit their work at Trapezium to offer their unique view of the city they both call home. While their work contrasts in many ways, there is a spirit of union that shines through.”
Nudrat’s work on display is a selection from projects she has undertaken over the years. Nudrat is well known for her City Girls exhibition – photographs of female football fans at Valley Parade – and a groundbreaking project focused on people attending Bradford Synagogue.
In a forthcoming book of photographs by Nudrat, entitled The Kehillah, to be published next month, she describes herself as a self-taught social documentary photographer.
“It was almost by chance that I first picked up a camera as an adult, and began photographing on my doorstep,” says Nudrat. “I had always wanted to take pictures of the people and places in the city in which I lived and, over time, this developed into an interest in documenting social change.”
Her images in the Trapezium exhibition include a pigeon fancier, from a series of photos she has taken of Bradford’s pigeon racing community, the last days of a long-running city hairdressing salon, and scenes of city life on White Abbey Road and Manchester Road.
Nudrat has dedicated her Sabah Al-Nur / Morning of Light exhibition to the memory of her daughter, Khadijah, who died last year, after a long-running illness. Khadijah was, says Nudrat, “a great supporter of the Trapezium Gallery and the arts in general”.
Nudrat uses rolls of film rather than digital kit. She uses an XPan Apart camera, given to her by Oscar-winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy who got in touch after admiring her City Girls images of female Bradford City fans, which became an exhibition and calendar. Nudrat’s other work includes a series of images of nursing and care staff at the BRI, which she took while accompanying Khadijah on hospital appointments. Nudrat was given permission to photograph staff, capturing remarkable images of them at work.
Martin’s view of Bradford is depicted through the medium of paint. His work is a celebration of the city’s diversity and cultural complexity, often set against the backdrop of its Victorian heritage. His paintings, he says, try to “distil significance in the unremarkable and the everyday”.
Adds Martin: “Bradford offers something special and captivating, with its rich mix of cultures and landscapes, which goes beyond the commonplace. The different elements in my paintings are collaged together from a variety of sources and everyday sights seen around Bradford city centre and the region.
“I am attempting to give my paintings the appearance of a particular place with a unified space, even though the method used involves bringing together a multitude of different spaces from different sources.”
Martin’s paintings include suburban streets, people gathered outside shops and cafes, standing or sitting with dogs and pushchairs, taking selfies or scouring lottery tickets.
He depict places in and around the city centre, including Great Horton and Manningham, shops on Oak Lane, streets in the shadow of city mill buildings and the shopping bustle of the Oastler Centre.
His paintings expose a gritty element of urban life in the city, but with the warmth of familiarity, and highlight beauty and character in shop windows or grand architectural style of old buildings.
The changing light and colours on buildings inspire Martin, who trained at St Martin’s Art School in London and taught ceramics at Bradford Art College for more than 20 years.
He says: “I have painted Bradford in a variety of different times of day and am interested in reflecting the atmosphere and light of the city at particular moments.
“People are portrayed against the backdrop of an urban, industrial landscape, where the old Victorian city merges with the new world of multi-cultural Bradford.
“These paintings explore the relationship between the figure and the landscape, or the figure in the landscape. Figures viewed with a certain distance kept at arm’s length – as seen through the window of a car or the lens of a camera.
“The markings on the streets, the changing patterns and colours, are reflected in the changes and erasures of the painted surface; the mix of oil and pigment on my canvas.”
* Sabah Al-Nur / Morning of Light, Two Views of Bradford is at Trapezium Gallery, Kirkgate, Bradford, from today until April 26. Opening times are: Monday to Saturday, 11am-3pm.
There will be a chance to meet the artists at the launch event on Saturday from 12-3pm, and a talk by the artists on Saturday, April 12 from 1pm.
Visit trapeziumarts.com or email art@trapeziumarts.com
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