David Simper travelled down to the town centre on a Friday night to catch a new exhibition from the No 12 Collective, based in the UCLan photography department. The group returns after staging an exhibition at Hive a year ago. He arrived to find the place bustling.
This group’s previous show was excellent and I was keen to see this new collection as the No 12 Collective returned to The Hive gallery on 28th February 2025.
The prints were generally large and well presented. I noticed that they were accompanied by photo books and business cards, which had not been the case previously. Clearly the group is moving forward.
The group clearly has no reservation about exploring some dark themes, like the sequence above referencing the different forms of nightmares.
On a more cheerful note, it was good to see some nice bird photography, another failed aspiration from my youthful photography days.
Having myself long abandoned the idea of ever taking that single great shot, I’m now much keener on coherent sets of photographs addressing a subject, or even telling a story. The sequence of pictures above is in this vein, based round a chance encounter with two old men, who then seem to disappear into the environment.
After several decades involvement in photography, I’ve come to the view that the quality of work is barely, if at all, dictated by the equipment used. Thus people saying ‘you must have a good camera’, can be very annoying. The sequence of frames above, taken by female football fans using disposable cameras, illustrates this. The images get right to the heart of the football experience and are truly excellent.
I spoke to Debs Parr about this project and the No 12 Collective group’s general progress.
How have things moved forward since the last time we spoke?
“The last exhibition was University led, being a project that we were doing, part of which was to set up an exhibition. This year we have done it independently as a group – we’ve all collaborated to raise the money and put on this exhibition.
“As part of our course, we were meant to have produced a book, which we have done – then the images used for that project have also been used to exhibit here and also to launch the books. Other images have been used too, for instance I have used pictures from my social research project.
“We don’t do a dissertation anymore, we do a research project – it’s the same kind of thing, you still have to write 5,000 words. As a group we decided to come back to Hive and Blackpool, which we love – and the kind helpful people, we had such a positive experience when we did our year two exhibition that we wouldn’t come anywhere else really.
“Two of our tutors have come tonight, which is nice, and shows how supportive they are.
“Having done this independently, there’s no reason why we can’t continue to work together as a group, after we finish our year three. There is now only ten of us, but we’ve retained the name with 12. We’ve also done our own curation this time, using things that we learnt last time. I’m proud, it shows how much we’ve grown in just a year.”
How have the high-quality photo books have come together?
“We’ve used a local printing company. A book needs to be produced for the course and some of us have done more copies so that they can be used for display and for selling on websites and in bookstores. That’s another level for students to go into, going into a bookstore and saying ‘would you like to sell my book?’ We now also have business cards and I feel we’ve gone up a professional level.
“The thing with us is that we’re a very close-knit group and part of a very good year. Our work is all different, which I think is quite unique.”
What’s the mix between digital and film within the group?
“Mine is a film project, using the disposable cameras, but everybody else’s work here tonight is digital. Abraham does use film, but he’s on digital tonight. So I would say that out of the ten of us, it’s mainly Abraham and myself that use film. When I go to away matches, they don’t let you in with a digital camera, but analogue cameras are still allowed. You get a different feel and it’s a discussion point.”
So what is the future for the No 12 Collective?
“We’re all feeling a bit sad because we’ll all be leaving UCLan after such a wonderful journey. My photographic learning has gone from 0 to 100. So many opportunities.
“I’ve achieved so much, I’m getting paid commissions already, I’ve been in several exhibitions and I’m now doing some work with the English National Opera. The latter will be a really interesting three-year project based on the company’s relocation to Manchester. It’s community and grassroots that I’m into.
“We already know that we’ll stay in touch as a group and do more. We’re bonded and I think we’ll always do stuff together, because we’re all so unique and we all learn from one another. So we’re a bit sad, but also excited because of what we’ll be doing after UCLan. I’m hoping to do my Masters from September and do film and video – I’m interested in storytelling.
“I’m interested in the social documentary side. It’s less about the outcome of the images, more about the process and the journey – to see the delight on the faces of two of the women here tonight at seeing their images on the wall, that gave me far more than seeing my own images.”
Thanks once more to Debs for speaking for the group and giving us the background and insights into this fine exhibition.
The event was well attended and the exhibition now runs to 6th March 2025; it should be a hot ticket for any photography lover.
Thanks as ever to The Hive team for sorting the drinks and snacks. This was a very pleasant evening with lovely people – I hope the show leads to great things.
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