This is a Tom’s Tour with a difference - NO CAMERAS ARE PERMITTED IN SIDE THE EXHIBITION…!
This is an exclusive opportunity for NDPS members to view the stunning exhibition taken between 1948 and 1961, of husband and wife Walter and Rita Nurnberg who photographed the factories of Norwich and their workers.
The Society has negotiated group rates for the visit which must be paid by TUESDAY 12th December. Please bring your payment along to the regular meeting. Card payments please…!
Adults: £6.65
Concession: £6.30 (over 65s, students and disabled people) Disabled people can bring a companion in free.
Please meet at the entrance to the Castle Museum by 10:00am as we need to enter as a group being led by Tom.
About the exhibition:
These stunning photographs, which owe as much to Rita’s skilful processing as they do to Walter’s original compositions, go beyond the documenting of industry. Meticulously choreographed images of the factories are infused with the high modernism of the Bauhaus, whilst striking portraits of workers lean into the glamour and beauty of cinema’s golden age; from the time-worn faces of the master artisan to the teenage apprentices shining with enthusiasm, the Nurnbergs’ photographs are both local history and enduring works of art.
The exhibition showcases the Nurnbergs’ distinctive and influential photographic practice, focusing on the extraordinary visual record they created of Norwich striving to rebuild itself economically after the Second World War. It includes over 130 original photographic prints representing three key Norwich industries: shoemaking at Edwards and Holmes’ Esdelle Works; steel construction, woodworking, and wire netting at Boulton & Paul’s Riverside Works; and sweet-making at Mackintosh-Caley’s Chapelfield Works. The photos are displayed alongside objects from our own collections relating to the city’s industrial past and newly digitised archive film.
Walter (1907-1991) and Rita (1914-2001) Nurnberg established a commercial photographic studio in London in 1934 after relocating from Germany. Walter, a former pupil and tutor at the prestigious Reimann School of Art and Design in Berlin, made a name for himself in product photography and teaching, and wrote technical guides to photography including Lighting for Photography (1940) which remained in print until the 1970s. After the Second World War, the Nurnbergs concentrated their collective skills in documenting and celebrating the workers of Britain. Over the subsequent decade, the Nurnbergs made photographs for many of the nation’s most significant companies and their distinctive style of black and white images transformed the image of post-war British industry. Whilst touring the country with his camera, Walter also organised public exhibitions of Rita’s prints at local museums and galleries. In 1974 Walter was awarded the OBE for his contribution to industrial photography and photographic education.
About Tom’s Tours
Tom (Chairman of NDPS) regularly organises (at least once a month) shoots at locations that are of interest to photographers but in addition are often difficult to successfully capture either because getting good images is not possible without exclusive access as they are not normally open to the general public or because in normal circumstances photography is not allowed.
About Norwich & District Photographic Society
With roots that can be traced back to the middle of the nineteenth century Norwich & District Photographic Society (NDPS) is one of the oldest photographic societies in the country. The annual season has something for everyone being jam-packed with fantastic presentations from accomplished photographers, practical workshops and tutorials, field trips, special interest groups, the usual photographic competitions and much more...