A major retrospective for 2020

Feb 8th – March 21st 

This treasure trove of original silver gelatin prints have been chosen from 700 exhibition prints in the archive, and many have not been seen for over 50 years. As Derek had chosen them to submit to numerous exhibitions, we must recognise that they represent the cream of his work. Derek developed these images himself, puffing away on a cigarette in the dark room. Many of these entrancing exhibition prints are plastered with prize stickers from across the UK and Europe, and they featured in numerous photo-journals. He gained his Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in 1966.

This exhibition also displays much of Derek’s original equipment, cameras from the heyday of photo-journalism, and his Arriflex film camera which he used as a stringer cameraman for ATV, BBC Midlands and HTV.

There will also be extracts of Stories from the Hop Yards, Carousel and local archive film.

Open: Tues-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat 10am-12.30pm

Location: Broad Street Hereford HR4 9AU

Feb 10th – March 19th

Derek Evans photographs of children form a distinctive portion of his body of work. He often chose them as subjects in their own right, or showed us an event through their own eyes. These photographs often display Derek’s skill at allowing children to be themselves in front of the lens. His work is often candid and affectionate, but not mawkish, as realism is important to him too. This HCA exhibition could easily have been three times the size, but we hope this sequence successfully captures the best of Derek’s work about childhood, and effectively displays his vision of a distinctive era of pre-digital childhood imbued with a prelapsarian atmosphere whether at play, at school or in the hop fields.

Open: Mon-Fri 10am-4pm – please enter via reception

Location: College Road Campus Hereford HR1 1EB

We will also be running a symposium of photographers talks on Feb 20th at this venue – see events below for more details.

Feb 20th – April 17th (Now closed due to the Corona Virus restrictions)

Any self-respecting journalist or photojournalist keeps a cuttings file, and Derek Evans was no exception. In this exhibition, we re-imagine the ‘picture news desk’, bringing together an image from the archive, with a matching article from Derek’s newspaper cuttings. The cuttings themselves are kept in standard-issue scrap books, some rather delicate and fragile, which are crammed full of news stories. On the pages are clippings cut out of newspapers and glued onto the buff-coloured pages, often in a seemingly haphazard fashion. Pieces from The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday & Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Western Mail, Birmingham Post, Daily Sketch, Daily Mail, Hereford Evening News attest to the wide scope of Derek’s clients.

Dip into these articles and images, and experience the joy of a rip-roaring ride through many aspects of Herefordshire Life from the 1950s through to the 1970s.

Open: Mon – Fri & 2nd Sat of the month 9am-5pm

Location: Fir Tree Lane Hereford HR2 6LA

Feb 20th – March 22nd  (Now closed due to the Corona Virus restrictions)

Derek needed hardy perennials, or ’diary stories’ which were local subjects he knew newspapers or TV stations would be interested in year after year: FA cup rounds, the cider harvest, Fownhope Heart of Oak walk and the May fair. Alongside Derek’s images are contemporary photographic responses from Emma Drabble (project photographer), Clova Perez-Corral, Alex Thimm, Oliver Cameron-Swan and Chloe Christian.

Alongside this work is a veritable visual feast of images plucked from all corners of Herefordshire Life, from parades to portraits to Hereford United FC to quirky snapshots of rural life. Then in an entirely different register, and in circumstances that would have sorely tested anyone, we see how Derek handled the tragedy of Aberfan and managed to bear witness to this awful event.

Finally, in honour to the Courtyard setting, we present a series of images of celebrities of stage, screen and concert hall. Check the captions closely as Derek’s hero Duke Ellington rubs shoulders with Richard Burton and Cilla Black. These barely touch the tip of the iceberg of what is now available to view online. And please do check out the other exhibitions.

Open: Mon-Sat 10am-8pm; Sun please check with venue

Location: Edgar Street Hereford HR1 9JR

EVENT: Feb 20th 

Featuring renowned photographer and digital storyteller Daniel Meadows alongside Emma Drabble, Keith James and Alex Thimm. These photographers will speak about their work, and the work of Derek Evans and how the practices and responsibilities of photography have developed from the 1940s to the present-day.’ A Catcher Media collaboration with Hereford College of Arts as part of the Herefordshire Life Though a Lens: The PHOTOS exhibition.

Book here
Read more about the speakers here

10am-1pm (Free but ticketed)

Location: Hereford College of Arts College Road Campus Hereford HR1 1EB

EVENT: Feb 18th – 20th

For three days only at the Buttermarket in Hereford. When we began telling the story of the archive we realised how little some people knew about analogue dark room techniques of making a photographs so we thought it would be a good idea to give people a chance to develop one of Derek’s negatives into an actual photograph. Suitable for adults or children aged 8+ who must be accompanied by an adult.

Book via email with julia@catchermedia.co.uk to ensure a time slot or just drop in on the day.

Open: 10am-4pm

Location: The Buttermarket High Town Hereford HR1 2AA