Tue Mar 13, 2018 10:32 pm
‘Precinct shopping’ is the subject of a new photographic exhibition in Coventry which is set to provide a fascinating look back at the heart of the city and its people
It includes social life too, including this rendezvous at the now listed round cafe in Lower Precinct in 1959 (pictured).
Coventry firm The Photo Archive Miners has teamed up with Coventry Art Space, Theatre Absolute and BBC Coventry and Warwickshire radio to produce the exhibition, simply titled ‘Precinct Shopping’.
It uses photographs taken by Coventry City Council architects during the 1960s and onwards, and by legendary Coventry photographer Dr Richard Sadler.
The Precinct was the vision of then city architect Sir Donald Gibson of a modern, pedestrianised shopping centre, which attracted international interest.
The groundbreaking post-war development now attracts interest due to its heritage, and there are plans to redevelop the Upper Precinct in line with Gibson’s original concept, for instance by removing the Precinct escalator.
‘Precinct Shopping’ is co-curated by Photo Archive Miners’ Jason Tilley and Josh Curtis, who is a year 3 photography student at Coventry University.
The exhibition is open at various times from Friday March 16 to Saturday April 1 and is part of Coventry Shop Front Festival, which begins on Friday March 23.
The exhibition can be viewed at Artspace, City Arcadia Gallery, 32 City Arcade Coventry CV1 3AU.
For more information, go to http://www.theatreabsolute.co.uk/shop-front-festival/
Sun May 24, 2020 12:11 pm
A photographer who captured Coventry's post-war recovery has died at the age of 92.
A photographer who captured Coventry's post-war recovery has died at the age of 92.
Richard Sadler lived through the German bombing of the city and documented the rebuilding of the cathedral.
Dr Ben Kyneswood, of Coventry University, said he was "probably Coventry's pre-eminent post-war photographer".
Sadler captured ordinary life around the city and the poverty that remained, despite Coventry's post-war boom.
Jason Scott Tilley from Coventry's Photo Archive Miners group, described him as "theatrical" an "extrovert" and "one of these characters who came out of that booming city after the war and made a name for himself".
He said Sadler was special because he was a perfectionist. Dr Kyneswood added that because he was a fine art photographer by trade, he was taught to take one photograph at a time and spent a lot of time framing his photos before he took them.
Michael Pritchard from the British Photographic History website said Sadler was "one of British photography's important post-war figures".
In his 60-year career, he worked for many of the big local companies, including Jaguar, Wimpey, the University of Derby, Courtaulds, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Belgrade Theatre.
He also worked with playwright John Wiles on 'Never Had it So Good', a social documentary about the city, performed at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre.
A body of Sadler's work has been digitized by Dr Kyneswood and colleagues as part of the Photo Miners project.
He died at his home in Monmouthshire after a short illness.
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