The After Alice Project Open Day

Wednesday, 10 June 2015

• The After Alice Project is having an Open Day
• Fun with film cameras for all the family
• Take a closer look at Hebden's most famous camera - Alice Longstaff's original plate camera
• Word of Mouth Art & Craft Supplies, Valley Road, 11-4.

We're holding an Open Day on 13th June to answer all those questions you've been asking us - and everyone's invited!

Can we see some of the old pictures from Hebden Bridge? Pennine Horizons are coming along to host all-day slideshows of some of the best-loved pictures from the Alice Longstaff Collection. It's quite a thing to see how much our town has changed in the last hundred years!

Nelli Douglas-Adams and Mark Adams.
Nelli is holding a Ross No.3 Cabinet lens made 1867-1875.
It can be seen fitted to Alice's camera during the Open Day.

What's the After Alice Project doing? We're making tomorrow's old photographs - and we're taking them on film because film lasts almost forever - so that whoever's living in the Calder Valley in the next hundred years can see what's changing now, and be astounded by all the amazing stuff we get up to! We'll be showing off some of the best photographs taken so far - perhaps you'll bring us your ideas for photographs, and maybe get involved or become a member?
 
How easy is it to take a photograph on film? It's a bit of a different headspace to taking digital pictures, but to show you how easy it is, we'll be setting up the After Alice photobooth. Kids - you can take a film portrait of your favourite grownup, whoever they are - but you have to bring them with you and make sure they're well-behaved! Grownups - you can bring anyone you like to take their portrait. We'll do all the setting up - but you can work the shutter. We'll then develop the film and send you a link where you can download the resulting image. All negatives taken from the portraits will be entered into the After Alice archive, and there will be a very small charge to cover developing costs.
 
How do you develop film? Now everything's digital most people don't know how film gets from the camera to the printed page. We'll be demonstrating how all that works and we're not the sort to say: "Don't try this at home!" We can show you everything you need to know to develop your own film, and give you a pocket-money-priced shopping list if you fancy taking over the kitchen table.
 
How do film cameras work? We'll have all sorts of cameras on display from the 1930s to the 1990s so you can see several decades of cutting edge technology all at once. If you fancy buying your own camera on ebay we'll tell you what to look out for, how to spot good stuff, and what to avoid. And we promise not to say: "Look, but don't touch!" All our camera equipment is definitely hands on!
 
What sort of cameras did Alice Longstaff use? We've persuaded Pennine Horizons to bring Alice's actual plate camera down to the Open Day so you can see how photography started in the Calder Valley. Most of her camera and lenses date between 1867 and 1875 - to put that into perspective, that's some time between the first performance of the Blue Danube waltz and the first person to swim the English Channel - and all this brass and wood and glassware took some of the most famous pictures ever made in the valley. We're hoping to get Alice's plate camera working again one day soon - we think she'd be delighted to know it could still be taking pictures of the people of Hebden Bridge.

Win one of three historic cameras for yourself!

We're offering three fully-working vintage film cameras to the three lucky winners of the After Alice Treasure Hunt. Download our treasure map to identify 16 mystery places in central Hebden Bridge - we don't mind how many people help you, but every entry form must be handed in on Open Day to be in with a chance of winning.

Meet the Team behind After Alice! We like talking about cameras, and about great places to photograph everyday life in the valley. Whether you're an old hand at taking pictures, or are just starting out, the After Alice Open Day should have something for everyone. Come and talk to us, too, about gear that won't work, or pictures that keep turning out blurred and we'll do our best to help. There'll be tea, and coffee, and juice, and plenty of cake - all at sensible prices.

Where: Word of Mouth Art & Craft Supplies, Valley Road, Hebden Bridge, 11:00am to 4:00pm. You can find out lots more on www.afteralice.org.