Beauty in the Ordinary exhibition on Lands Lane

3rd December 2009 – 22nd February 2010

Seeing Leeds in a new way…

“One can travel the world and see nothing. To achieve understanding, it is necessary not to see many things but to look hard at what you do see.” Georgio Morandi Artist, 1890-1964

Leeds-based photographer Lizzie Coombes was commissioned by Leeds City Council in partnership with ArtForms, Education Leeds, in 2007 to develop a project entitled ‘Beauty in the Ordinary’ with some 40 Leeds schools. The project was subsequently delivered in a more concentrated form in Holbeck Urban Village, Holbeck and Beeston with a range of community groups, residents and businesses. The aims of the project were twofold:

• to encourage debate about Public Arts; What are they? Who makes them? How can they improve our environments and our quality of life?

• to encourage a new look at our individual communities and find the unique characteristics which make our neighbourhoods special.

In other words, to do exactly what the project title says, and to find beauty in the ordinary – art in the everyday elements of our built and natural surroundings which are often passed by without a second thought.

The photographs shown here were taken by a wide range of people, young and old, some of whom had never used a digital camera before.

The astonishing quality of the images shown here demonstrates how we can learn to see those special details, captured in a fleeting moment, which make a place unique.

Photographs of unexpected beauty in the city from young people and community groups across Leeds, initiated by Leeds City Council Public Arts & supported by Artforms and Education Leeds.