Claire Griffiths, Author at Blackpool Social Club

27 Aug

Blackpool Artists Assemble to Celebrate Sustainable Seaside Style

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performanceblackpool music, dance, House of wingz, sustainable fashion

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] “This was something brand new for Blackpool, exciting, immersive, and deeply creative,” said Aysh De Belle of House of Wingz. “It’s proof that our town has the talent and vision to put itself on the style map.” On Saturday 16 August, Blackpool’s House of Wingz opened its doors to the local community, inviting them to join in a celebration of inclusive, multicultural, and sustainable arts in the form of dance, sustainable fashion, spoken word and poetry, photography, live performance, and community activism. The concept of Blackpool Style Assembly steers away from the promotion of fast, disposable fashion and…

15 Mar

Join New Langdale Photographers for a year long project in Hawes Side

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsOpportunitiescommunity, Hawes Side, photography

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_single_image image="52569" img_size="medium" add_caption="yes" css=""][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text css=""] Get ready for an exciting photographic adventure! From now until 2026, the New Langdale Photographers, an exceptional group of photographers with diverse needs, will partner with Blackpool-based photographer Claire Griffiths. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=""]This collaboration explores how creativity can cultivate meaningful shared experiences, contributing to a lasting legacy. The project seeks to uncover the hidden gems of the Hawes Side area of Marton through a year-long initiative.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] Previously, the New Langdale Photographers undertook an extensive project highlighting the contributions of Blackpool Borough Architect J.C. Robinson, who designed 30 notable buildings in the area,…

29 Sep

Open Call: Photoworks Weekender

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsOpportunitiesart and photography, open call

This year UK development agency Photoworks has been hosting Photography Socials at Blackpool Community Darkroom. Now they're on the hunt for new photography champions in the town. Situated upstairs at Aunty Social on the second to last Thursday of each month, everyone is warmly welcomed to the current Photoworks-supported Photography Socials at Blackpool Community Darkroom. Local photographers Donna Hannigan, Helen Kay, Herny Iddon, and Claire Griffiths run the events which aim to explore how we might platform the strong relationship Blackpool has with the accessible creative act of the photographic image. Since the dawn of the picture postcard where Blackpool…

14 Sep

Performance Review: SHHHHH! The Midnight Cabaret Club

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & PerformanceLBGTQI, performance, Queer Blackpool

Hidden away in a decorative, atmospheric, attic space echoing art deco cinema and 1920’s finery is Oscars bar. Look for a doorway to the right of the main entrance of to Funny Girls to find a new and utterly scintillating secret. Head up some lamp-lit, mirrored stairs to arrive in a warm glowing space filled with multiple stages, performance platforms and spiral wrought iron staircases where brightly lit orbs float above your head. I came to enjoy ‘SHHHHH!’ - a midnight cabaret performance that transports guests to the late-night lounge bars of the jazz age or the speakeasies of prohibition-era…

19 Nov

Gallery: House of Wingz cultivate roots

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsVisual Arts & Exhibitions

As Black History Month drew to a close, House of Wingz opened their doors for a weekend of activities called Cultivating Roots. A Black excellence showcase, members of the community were welcomed into House of Wingz’s ever-evolving space on Back Reeds Road to engage in various aspects of Black Culture. The weekend coincided with the studio opening up its ground floor level. The space is a collaboration with charity Live Like Ralph, which honours the memory of Ralph Roberts – a young Blackpool skater who sadly died in 2021. Featuring a number of small ramps, the space acts as a…

04 Sep

Blackpool architect celebrated in social history archive

Claire Griffiths1 CommentVisual Arts & Exhibitionsphotography exhibition

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Photographs are surely the greatest route to remembering, an accessible medium making up many a photo album, picture postcard, or even a keyring of a special time or event. But what else can photography do? Claire Walmsley Griffiths tells us how a project by a group of learning disabled photographers has led to the creation of an archive documenting an important part of Blackpool's built heritage and social history. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Earlier this year after working on a project with a group of Learning Disabled photographers with Leftcoast in Bostonway, Hawes Side. A story was recounted by a manager of The…

03 Sep

Gallery: Ralphfest day one

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsLocal Newscommunity, skate, skateboarding

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Ralphfest23 A festival of art and skateboarding is popping up in various locations this weekend. Claire Griffiths captured the days events at Park View in Lytham on Saturday. The festival continues at Stanley Park on Sunday 4th September 2023. “Overall the plan is to put lots of smiles on faces,” said Neil Roberts, father of the late Ralph Roberts who sadly passed away in January 2021, of a rare condition called Sarcoidosis that was not diagnosed until post-mortem. Roberts set up LiveLikeRalph in his son’s name, a charitable organisation that aims to provide skateboards and any necessary equipment to…

10 Jul

Nick Barkworth: liminal photography of Blackpool

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsVisual Arts & Exhibitionsart and photography

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Muted colours and shapes portray Blackpool in an exotic light in Nick Barkworth's beautiful photography. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Nick Barkworth's photographs, showcased regularly on his Instagram, almost always feature Blackpool shots at golden hour. Sunsets against buildings, milky images of back streets, ethereal shapes of guesthouses, and the interiors of empty cafes – his images tell a story. His use of shape and light captures Blackpool in an almost dreamlike way. They are hopeful and sit in contrast to the familiar images of visitors, brassy illuminated fronts, hen and stag parties. His images demonstrate a sensitivity to a place he lives and grew…

25 Jun

Tristan Poyser: photography and wellbeing in Fleetwood

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsVisual Arts & Exhibitionsphotography, well being

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Our focus on wellbeing took a huge leap forward in and following lockdown. Creativity seemed to take centre stage with many of us finding time to slow down, bake, paint, create. Claire Griffiths talks to Manchester-based photographer, Tristan Poyser to talk about his past work and current residency in Fleetwood combining nature, photography, and mental health. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]On a warm May afternoon, I meet Tristan Poyser at the ever-popular Upside Down cafe to talk about his residency of community workshops at Rossall Beach Observation Tower as part of The Bay: A Blueprint for Recovery. I have followed Tristan for a while…

31 Mar

Exhibition: New Langdale Photographers

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsVisual Arts & Exhibitionscommunity, photography, socially engaged

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] The portrayal of Blackpool's tower, illuminations, and piers is well documented. But what do we discover if we explore a place set back from the prom? Along with a group of photographers who assemble every week at a community centre in Hawes Side, I have discovered how Blackpool could be seen in an alternative way. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]What do we think about, when we think about creativity? Is it useful, what does it communicate? As children, perhaps the first things we do could be described as creative, dancing as a way to move and mark making to learn to write. Using…