Rosemary is a huge fan of the art gallery, and I thought it was lovely that she chose to have her 60th birthday there. She got to enjoy the space she loved with all her Friends and Family, in such an iconic building for Wakefield and in fact Yorkshire.
The Wakefield district has always had an affinity with art and sculpture, Barbara Hepworth was born in Wakefield and Henry Moore was born in Castleford, just a short drive from the Gallery, all playing a massive part in putting Wakefield on the map for art. In 1977 The Yorkshire Sculpture Park opened (way before I was born) The open-air art gallery is situated in the ground of The old Bretton Hall Campus. If you are ever in West Yorkshire I’d highly recommend a visit to both the sculpture park and the Hepworth.
I remember, as a child, long walks in the Yorkshire sculpture park, I remember looking up at the Henry Moor sculptures and the buzz the park had. It felt like a place where art was not just displayed but where art was made and taught! Unfortunately, the uni campus closed a few years ago and to me, the site and sculpture park lost some of the energy and buzz. I can only imagine what it would have been like to be a student going to uni at Bretton Hall, studying the arts but at the same time being surrounded by such amazing sculptures by the most famous artist.
I had visited the Hepworth Gallery a few times since it opened in 2011, but I never imagined I would ever get to shoot an event in there! It’s an amazing building and a marvel of engineering as well as architecture and, to be honest, it has shed a lot of new light on who Barbara Hepworth was and how important she was to art and sculpture. From a photographers perspective, you could wander around this building all day taking shots. I think it would be a fantastic location for wedding photography too.
Happy Birthday, Rosemary!
Happy Birthday, Rosemary! Thank you for letting me photograph your Birthday in a location that is so special to you but also special to me.
nic x