Photo North Festival returns for a three-day celebration of photography

“We had two festivals in Harrogate in the Convention Centre which went very well and last year we were at the old Granada Studios in Manchester; this time we knew we wanted to bring it to Leeds,” says Dench, a London-based photojournalist who with Price also set up and ran the acclaimed photography and film gallery White Cloth Gallery in Leeds for some years. “We felt that the Faversham was the perfect venue – it feels very welcoming, informal but professional. The festival is quite organic and we rely on a lot of goodwill – basically we try and keep existing exhibitions on the road and give them a new audience. Photography exhibitions often go into storage and we put a call out to people to see what they have got, then we choose the venue, build the contacts and invite people to exhibit.”

The festival team have once again assembled a pretty impressive roll call of internationally renowned photographers including Chris Floyd who rose to fame during the height of Britpop and has since become one of the most sought-after celebrity portrait photographers in the world. He will be exhibiting a selection of portraits from his book Not Just Pictures, a visual memoir, and talking about his fascinating 30-year career. Amongst those Lloyd has photographed over the years, and whose images are on display at the festival, are Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, David Attenborough, Vivienne Westwood, Yoko Ono, David Hockney and Robert De Niro. “I have known Chris since the mid-1990s and he has become a real friend of the festival,” says Dench. “He will be around for all three days of the festival, which is great. I think it is very special when you come into a venue, look at a photograph and the person who took it is there and can give you a bit of background to it.”

Also exhibiting is Joanne Coates who will be presenting her impressive series Daughters of the Soil. Although women make up 28 percent of the farming industry in the UK, their contribution is rarely acknowledged and despite playing a significant role in agricultural progress throughout history, documentation on female farmworkers is scarce. Daughters of the Soil aims to redress this and does so with some incredibly powerful images of women working the land today.

“We are really pleased with the line-up this year,” says Dench. “We try and create a balance of styles and themes to encourage debate. It is important to have those big names, world-renowned photographers but also others who are just emerging or at a different level in their career – we hope to inspire people.”

Other exhibitions include Going to the Sands, featuring photographs by Tessa Bunney of fishing families in Morecambe Bay and Belong, Dean Belcher’s intimate photographs taken inside Working Men’s Clubs. Sofia Conti’s Return, O Backsliding Children is a multimedia collaboration with communities in the East End of Glasgow documenting how crime impacts on their everyday lives; Roy Mehta’s monochrome images from his reportage Revival capture the daily rituals of the diverse communities living in the London borough of Brent and Postcards from the Edge is a group show celebrating the character and colour of the English seaside.

There are plenty of opportunities for people to get involved with talks, walks, screenings, workshops, portfolio reviews for students – and competitions. “We are inviting people to submit photographs of rubbish which we will put on display and then sell for £1 each; all the proceeds will be donated to our chosen charity this year – Simon on the Streets who work with the vulnerable and homeless,” says Dench. “We are also working with London-based portrait photographer Tom Oldham who is helping to support underfunded art departments in state schools by collecting creative books – you can bring your unwanted or spare photography books along to festival as we will have a collection point.”

The response to the festival in previous years has been very positive, with audiences building. “Every time we start planning a festival, we are terrified – we assume the worst and that no one will come,” says Dench. “But we are of the mindset that if you start something like this and people can see it is authentic and that your intentions are sincere, then more often than not people from all sorts of places come forward and offer to help. We are finding that particularly in Leeds the arts community is very supportive – we have had a lot of help and suggestions.”

Dench and price have chosen thought-provoking works that explore some quite hard-hitting, resonant contemporary themes. “If we can get people thinking and inspire them and maybe even effect change, or at least pose questions, then we will be happy,” says Dench. “We recognise people are passionate about photography and through the festivals we are committed to supporting the development of film and photography as an artform going forward.”

Photo North Festival is at The Faversham, 1-5 Springfield Mount, Leeds, March 24-26. Ticket price £12/£10. For details visit photonorthfestival.co.uk

Chris Floyd – Not Just Pictures is published by Reel Art Press.