News / 14 May 2026
Photography students exhibit at Leeds Central Library
BA (Hons) Photography
Final year BA (Hons) Photography students have curated an exhibition in response to a brief set in collaboration with the Leodis Archive and Leeds Libraries.
The Leodis Archive is a collection of over 70,000 images of Leeds based at Leeds Central Library and online. The photographs housed in the archive show historic scenes and subjects of the local area.
Students were invited to explore the archive to find a theme or subject they would like to explore for a creative project. Choosing images from the archive, the students then went on to create their own responses, evidencing the connection between research and practice.
BA (Hons) Photography students submitted a series of photographs, along with a short description of their concept and how it developed from their archival research. The resulting exhibition ‘Rebirth’ was curated by six final year photographers: Ruby Preston, Ellie Turnbull, Harry Smithson, Toya-Leigh Brown, Poppy Gray, and Jessica Saxton, and was exhibited at Leeds Central Library.
“We were asked to view the Leodis archive at Leeds Library and respond to an image from the archive visually. As a group we have worked hard putting together our exhibition ‘REBIRTH’ and hope that those using the library and others can understand and appreciate the archive in conjunction with our response. The exhibition is a collection of work that we are excited to share and have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of. As a team, we are grateful for the opportunity and hopefully you will see more from us!”
Ruby Preston, Ellie Turnbull, Harry Smithson, Toya-Leigh Brown, Poppy Gray, and Jessica Saxton, BA (Hons) Photography students