Morrissey came to prominence in the early 2000s among a generation of female photographers working with staged photography, often putting themselves in the picture. Throughout her career, the artist has combined performance, photography, and film to play real and fictional characters. Using herself, and in collaboration with others, Morrissey’s practice explores historic and contemporary ideas about women, family and the body. The exhibition brings back to Impressions Gallery selections from Morrissey’s seminal photographic series Seven Years (2001-2004) and Front, (2005-2007) both commissioned by Impressions and developed over long periods of time.

Stina Fisher - Copyright Margaret Mitchell

This Separated Isle explores how concepts of ‘Britishness’ reveal an inclusive range of opinions and understandings about our national character. Based on the book Invisible Britain: This Separated Isle, the exhibition presents a diverse range of engaging photographic portraits of people from across the UK. Each portrait is accompanied with a poignant first person testimony that draws attention to each person’s story, placing them centre stage so that we can begin to understand their lives.

Nothing compared to photography when it came to capturing the Industrial Revolution. As Britain’s society changed, techniques in photography developed, enabling workers to capture their own lives for the first time.