For the past 30 years I have been active as an independent, freelance photographer in the West Midlands area. I have undertaken photography commissions for publications, and run community-based photography projects in Herefordshire and Shropshire. Between 1986 and 1992 I devised and directed the Hereford Photographic Festival (which continued as a professionally-run Festival with international standing until 2012). I have been a founder member of a number of photography groups, most recently the Marches Independent Photography group based in Shropshire: http://www.mipgroup.org.uk/.
In 1993 I settled in Shrewsbury, where I have continued to produce and exhibit work. Since 1996 I have taken part most years in Shrewsbury Open Studios (http://shrewsburyopenstudios.co.uk/portfolio/dave-west/).
Throughout all this work, I have been fascinated by photography’s capacity to record, celebrate, distort or disguise, through poetry and science. Documentary experience has often led me to work in themes and create narratives. Painting and literature continue to inform my use of lyrical composition.
Exhibitions:
Hole in the Ground: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2013
The Earth Moved: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2012
Dividing Lines: MIP group exhibition,The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock and Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre 2012;
The Stuff of Life: Hereford Photography Festival 2010;
Battlefields Spain: MIP group exhibition, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre 2009;
Battlefields: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2009;
Indefinite Articles: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2008
Discomposed: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2007
Angel: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2006
Telling Moments: The Place, Oakengates 2005 & Shrewsbury Music Hall Photography Gallery 2002;
The Cars that Ate Shrewsbury: Shrewsbury Music Hall Photography Gallery 1999
An Elizabethan Town-Cat's Country Diary: Telford Town Park Gallery 1993
“Personal Developments”: Hereford Photographic Festival (Sept 1992);
Hereford & Worcester Library Service Touring Exhibition (April - December 1992);
“Rural Developments”: Hereford Photographic Festival (September 1991);
Hereford & Worcester Library Service Touring Exhibition (April - November 1991);
Hereford Arts in Action Exhibition (December 1990);
“Making History. Taking Photos”: Hereford Photographic Festival (September 1990);
Hereford Arts in Action “The Exhibition - with a Difference” (January 1988);
Hereford Arts in Action Exhibition (Tape/slide - December 1986);
Hereford Photographic Festival Exhibitions (July 1986/July 1987)
In 1993 I settled in Shrewsbury, where I have continued to produce and exhibit work. Since 1996 I have taken part most years in Shrewsbury Open Studios (http://shrewsburyopenstudios.co.uk/portfolio/dave-west/).
Throughout all this work, I have been fascinated by photography’s capacity to record, celebrate, distort or disguise, through poetry and science. Documentary experience has often led me to work in themes and create narratives. Painting and literature continue to inform my use of lyrical composition.
Exhibitions:
Hole in the Ground: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2013
The Earth Moved: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2012
Dividing Lines: MIP group exhibition,The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock and Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre 2012;
The Stuff of Life: Hereford Photography Festival 2010;
Battlefields Spain: MIP group exhibition, Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre 2009;
Battlefields: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2009;
Indefinite Articles: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2008
Discomposed: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2007
Angel: Shrewsbury Open Studios (Gorse Lane Gallery) 2006
Telling Moments: The Place, Oakengates 2005 & Shrewsbury Music Hall Photography Gallery 2002;
The Cars that Ate Shrewsbury: Shrewsbury Music Hall Photography Gallery 1999
An Elizabethan Town-Cat's Country Diary: Telford Town Park Gallery 1993
“Personal Developments”: Hereford Photographic Festival (Sept 1992);
Hereford & Worcester Library Service Touring Exhibition (April - December 1992);
“Rural Developments”: Hereford Photographic Festival (September 1991);
Hereford & Worcester Library Service Touring Exhibition (April - November 1991);
Hereford Arts in Action Exhibition (December 1990);
“Making History. Taking Photos”: Hereford Photographic Festival (September 1990);
Hereford Arts in Action “The Exhibition - with a Difference” (January 1988);
Hereford Arts in Action Exhibition (Tape/slide - December 1986);
Hereford Photographic Festival Exhibitions (July 1986/July 1987)
Photographs and material Copyright © Dave West 1986 - 2013. Images may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of Dave West.