Roadtrip and Bundobust you say? Go on then!

Five women, one baby, some beautiful photography and a hell of a venue. That’s what happened on Tuesday when Laura, Faye, Jaclyn, Ruth, myself, and brand new addition Robyn had a cheeky little road trip out to Manchester, to see the work of Tish Murtha and Anne Worthington at the ‘A Woman’s Work’ exhibition currently showing on Oxford Road.

On arriving at the Refuge Building in Manchester (an absolutely beuuuutiful old hotel) we had a Lens Eleven meet up to discuss life, photography and food. 

Tish Murtha and Anne Worthington are both female pioneers in the black and white realism photography genre. After a coffee and a natter we looked at the photographs, pondering our favourites, what kit was used, what the stories of the people in the photographs might be, and the role of the photographer in capturing such intimate portraits. The images spanned the 1970s, 80s and 2000s, all depicting the poverty and emotions of working class life in northern towns. As a huge fan of the British Culture Archive, this was an exhibit I could get on board with.

After the exhibition we wandered down to Bundobust at Manchester Piccadilly for some gorgeous curry-themed grub and to get to know each other a bit better. We learned that Jaclyn is in the midst of some serious home renovations (because a newborn isn’t enough of a challenge), Ruth DOES NOT SHARE FOOD, Laura loves Outlander, Faye H is a champion map reader and I am now a lifelong fan of curried mushy peas (what possibly could go wrong there?)

After a lovely few hours it was back off to the M62 for those of us heading back to Bradford for the school run / dog pick ups. A few wrong turns, some hilarious car stories and even passing Faye’s husband also on the M62 (cue lots of waving) we just about made it in time to get back to the daily routine. Isn’t it amazing how easily like-minded women can quickly strike up a rapport and get to talking about the important things in life? Lens Eleven has opened up so many new experiences for me.

I bloody love a girly road trip. Where to next?

Read more about A Woman’s Work 

This blog was written by FKB