Photographic related Brighton Open houses and other exhibitions to see

It’s that time of year again and the Brighton Festival has once again rolled around, which in turn means it’s time for Brighton Open Houses. There is an absolutely overwhelming number of open houses, more than you could ever hope to get around even if you visited them on every weekend of the 4 week festival.

Images by Edward Bishop, Edward Bishop and George Douglas

21a Brunswick Square

This open house is chock full of amazing photography from Alex Bamford’s OCD inspired ‘my collections project’ and Edward Bishop’s Knuckles project which documents finger tattoos. Sussex favorite Finn Hopson is also showing his breath taking Sussex landscapes. Kate Benjamin is showing montages, although her work is not strictly photography it is lens based, she’s been busy making digital collages from scanned objects. The open house includes 13 artists working in various different mediums. For information about artists and opening times head over to the 21a Brunswick Square website.

Colour Laine

Toby Mason aka fotobes from Flickr lomolicious photography is on show at Colour Lane. His work is a really good example of what lomo photography should be, basically good and not all green ;-). Toby has got some fantastic double exposure work and some beautiful Brighton Cityscapes. Also showing along side him is the Margate based furniture designer Zoe Murphy. She is showing her unique recycled furniture which she has hand printed graphic elements onto. More information on Colour Laine on the Open House website.

George Douglas at 14 Sillwood

George Douglas passed away in 2010 and at the beginning of this year an effort was made to see what was in is archive of negatives. George worked as a photographer from the 40s to the 70s and shot the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, President Truman, Peter Sellers and Dirk Bogarde. The exhibition includes previously unseen images of Audrey Hepburn which are simply breath taking. I just love looking at old photos that have been enlarged and lovingly restored, if i’m honest I don’t recognise 75% of the people in the images but if your over 50 I reckon this exhibition will blow your mind. The archiving and restoration work has been undertaken by Nigel Sollow Swallow the man behind the Brighton Calendar and Finn Hopson who is showing his own work in the 21a Brunswick Square open house. Whats even more mind blowing is that they have barely scratched the surface of the archive so it will be really interesting to see how it develops. Get more information about George Douglas at 14 Sillwood on the Open Houses website.

Audrey Hepburn by George Douglas

Lee Miller Archives Print Room Sale

Along the same lines as the George Douglas show is the Lee Miller Archives Print Room Sale. I’ve not visited this exhibition yet but it is on my list. It’s another one for the history enthusiasts, this exhibition is showing selected prints from Lee Miller archive, Lee Miller started shooting in 1929. Get more information on this exhibition on the Open Houses website.

American Ecstasy – Barbara Nitke – One Eyed Jacks

Not part of Open Houses but definitely a photography exhibition not to be missed. Barbara Nitke got notoriety for documenting behind-the-scenes of the American porn industry in the years 1982-1991. Barbara captured the off the cuff moments of porn sets which a surreal and often amusing. It goes without saying that this exhibition is not for the prudish and does contain sexually explicit material. American Ecstasy is on until the 4th of June at One Eyed Jacks get more information at One Eyed Jacks website.

Red Chairs from American Ecstasy by Barbara Nitke