Now on in our gallery space, we are delighted to be hosting an exhibition of photographs by Leeds-based photographer Peter Mitchell from his new book ‘Early Sunday Morning’.

Photo By Justin Slee

Published by RRB Photobooks, Early Sunday Morning is made up of over 90 largely unseen images of Leeds, each one selected from a cache of five hundred negatives that have sat unseen for over 30 years.

Alongside the exhibition, we had planned to hold a book launch, guided walks, and talks, but our plans were dashed.

With galleries still closed and the public taking baby steps back into the world we wondered how we could get Peter’s work out there... out of the gallery and... seen.

We were approached by Leeds based printers FYI about making use of the empty poster drums around the city that have been left largely unused, apart from the incredible ‘In Good Company’ project, during the lockdown. They wondered if we had any ideas... 

We thought how perfect it would be to get Peters work up, not to use the spaces to promote a product or an event, to make the use of the images transactional, but to present this wonderful archive of Leeds Heritage to the public for them to be viewed in their own time, on their own streets.

So often, photography is kept in galleries and photobooks but these photos are Of Leeds, they have been hidden away from view and we knew that they would evoke memories, stories, and reflections on how the city has changed and how it has to change again to adapt to our new future.

With the support of Leeds Civic Trust we have pasted up 100 posters across the city (20 photos x 5 sets) The images will also be appearing in even larger format at Hyde Park Corner at the end of July.

If you spot one we would love it if you could photograph it and add the location, also use the hashtag #EARLYSUNDAYMORNINGLEEDS

Part of the joy of this project is we have no idea where they will end up! We would love to be able to map the location of a full set.  We would also really love to hear your stories about the locations, do you remember them, can you take a photo of them now?

We are hopeful that at some point soon there will be a major exhibition of his work in the city, he is a wonderful character and although his work has been exhibited both locally and Internationally in the past it would be incredible to see these newly discovered works in large format in Leeds City Art Gallery for example. For now, the streets are your gallery...Enjoy.

Huge thanks to Peter Mitchell, Leeds Civic Trust  RRB Photobooks & Creative Arthur for their support on this project.