Paul Berriff is an internationally renowned, award-winning fine art photographer and documentary filmmaker who was born and raised in Leeds. Paul first stepped behind the camera in 1962, capturing street life in the City. Fast forward 60 years, and some of Paul’s earliest work is now back where it began.
The Rock Legends Collection Exhibition launched this week at Northlight, located on Potternewton Lane in Chapel Allerton. The exhibition launched with a private viewing for invited guests on Thursday 6th October. I was lucky enough to be invited.
Guests had a chance to mingle over drinks. The guys were working hard in the kitchen whilst we were all looking around the gallery, with wonderful aromas wafting under our noses! There was a great mix of canapes, with lovingly prepared options which include smoked salmon and dill, mushrooms with garlic, homemade mini beef pies and Yorkshire rarebit. What made it Yorkshire? Almost everything! The cheese, cream, butter and ale – only the mustard was an outsider.
Then Paul Berriff introduced the exhibition and told us briefly about his life and career. He spoke about how he discovered the full-page photography spreads in local newspapers and magazines during his Headingley newspaper round as a young teen. He said how he loved seeing international events as well as local news captured in black and white. It was whilst browsing through one of these magazines on a doorstop in Headingley, Paul explained, that he decided he wanted to become a photographer.
Over the next few years, Paul saved up his earnings from his paper round and purchased a camera. With his new camera, Paul, then not even 17 years old, took photos of local people and places. He even managed to get backstage passes to local venues such as the Odeon in Leeds, where he captured behind-the-scenes shots of emerging bands, such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. But, when Paul was offered a job as a photographer at his local newspaper, he put all his ‘practice’ photos in storage and forgot about them. Over the next 45 years, he captured people and events all over the world. And it wasn’t until he moved house, found his box of practice negatives and printed a few of them, that he realised what he had been keeping in a box in the loft.
The negatives that Paul printed were unique. They included photos of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in their dressing rooms in Leeds and surrounding areas. These were photos of the bands’ first tours, which were not captured by many other people at the time. So, as he looked through his teenage shots, he realised the photos were special, and so too did galleries and spaces across the world. Since Paul printed out his photos, they have been exhibited internationally, and now a collection of them is here in Leeds.
During the private event, we were able to look at all of the images and speak to Paul about the stories behind them. I loved hearing how he used only natural light, and how he enjoyed seeing how far he could push the light.
Paul will be speaking at a special event about his life and work on October 20th at Northlight. He will speak about his photography techniques as well as the stories behind his works. The evening promises to be an awesome insight into the life of an award-winning photographer with roots in Leeds.
Editor’s note: Over three years ago, we had the pleasure of meeting Paul for a feature in the first edition of Yorkshire Art (now North Art). That conversation took root in my memory, which is why I urge you to visit Northlight on 20 October to listen to what I know will be a fascinating tour of his experiences.
Photography by Northlight.
