At East Street Arts we love to let you know when there are great opportunities. This is a fantastic opportunity in which the Leeds City Museum will commission a photographer.

Deadline:
Monday 30th July 2012

Background:
Natural Beauty is a two part exhibition which will be hosted at Leeds City Museum. The first exhibition running from January 2013 to July 2013, will be an exhibition of photographs of Leeds Museums and Galleries’ natural history collection displayed alongside objects from the collection itself. This exhibition will act as the launch for the second part of the project – Leeds City Museums very own wildlife photography competition. The winners and runners up of this competition will then be shown in an exhibition running from January 2014 to July 2014.

Commission:
For the first part of the exhibition they are looking to commission a photographer to take pictures of their natural history collection for an exhibition and deliver an accompanying workshop/lecture series. They are seeking a photographer to interpret these collections in new and exciting ways that will act as inspiration for potential competition entrants for the second part of the project. The images will be displayed alongside museum specimens in a special exhibition running from January 2013 – July 2013, with a coinciding workshop/lecture series. In addition they would like the commissioned photographer to form part of the judging panel for the competition element of the project.

They envision 40 to 60 images will be produced to exhibition standard. The photographer must work closely with the Leeds City Museums Curator of Natural Sciences and Conservator to ensure proper handling, conservation and best practice guidelines are adhered to. In addition the objects photographed and displayed must be agreed with the curator or conservator in advance. They will expect regular updates and meetings during the preparation stages of the project. The commissioning fee will be £8,000 inclusive of all expenses. They will pay for the production and framing of the images on top of this fee and will therefore have to agree the production formats with the artist in advance to ensure adherence to the specified budgets.

Leeds Museums and Galleries will retain copyright of the images taken. They anticipate using these images in a range of ways in addition to the exhibition from commercial activity to education and outreach. Limited copyright can be negotiated with the photographer undertaking this work as well as a credit given. A separate license for this will be negotiated.

Workshops:
A workshop or lecture series is to accompany the exhibition and can take the form of photography master classes, gallery talks and formal lectures on photography. Leeds City Museum are looking for proposals from the commissioned photographer on the format, target audience and subject matter of these events. They envision that at least six two hour sessions will be undertaken although this will depend on the agreed format.

Key dates:
30th July – Application deadline
6th August – Interview of artist shortlist and commission award
30th November – Images ready for production
31st January – Exhibition private view and launch

How to Apply:
The deadline is midnight on the 30th July. Please submit your proposal to Rebecca Machin by email at rebecca.machin [at] leeds.gov.uk or by post:

Rebecca Machin
Curator of Natural Sciences
Leeds Museum Discovery Centre
Carlisle Road
LS10 1LB

Note: Please include your contact details including an email address and telephone number. Please also include details of the following:

• Sample artwork / portfolio including details of any previous exhibitions.
• Workshop / Lecture Experience.
• Experience of working with museums.
• Any additional Information you think we might need to know including how you propose to approach this commission.

If you have any further questions please contact Rebecca Machin, Curator of Natural Sciences, on rebecca.machin [at] leeds.gov.uk or 0113 2141563. Or contact Helen Langwick, Curator of Exhibitions, on helen.langwick [at] leeds.gov.uk or 0113 2243727.