Louie Haslam-Chance

I first got into photography when I moved from home to study Film at Lancaster University. At the time, I felt very overwhelmed trying to acclimatise to my new environment. I began to struggle mentally and was feeling pretty lost. So, I bought my first film camera (an Olympus XA) as I thought photography might help take my mind off things. I started to really love the process of taking, developing, and scanning pictures. I would go outside every day to explore and photograph the natural surroundings. It became a meditative ritual for me. 

I eventually found my feet at university and enjoyed my studies! For my dissertation project, I chose to make a film about Bradford using montage techniques as I wanted to try and capture the essence of the city. I think this sparked my love of place-based photography and has led to me undertaking a lot more projects that are Bradford-specific.  

Post-university, I came back to Bradford and began developing my practice by getting involved in local events, making photo-zines and setting up a small darkroom in the Mechanic’s Institute building in the City Centre. I started working as an Operations Assistant for Bradford 2025 in July 2023, and some event photography opportunities came about through this. I got to photograph the BD is LIT festival as well as some corporate events. This really helped me build my event portfolio and make new connections to establish myself as a freelance photographer.  

Last year, I came across an exciting opportunity by Impressions Gallery called New Focus: Bradford Young Curators.

New Focus is an award-winning young people’s collective for 18 to 25 year olds from Bradford. Those taking part benefit from workshops and mentoring from some of the UK’s leading photography experts and creative professionals.

I’ve met several other young Bradford creatives through the opportunity; we’re working together on a big project to build a digital Bradford family archive and curate an exhibition in  Impressions Gallery space. So far, we have been meeting with communities across the district to gather their stories and family photos. Our recent trip to Oastler Market (formerly John St Market) revealed the community spirit that has existed between the traders and customers for generations. From 14th December, we’ll be holding a monthly event at the market where people can come and share their photos of family and friends, to be added to the Digital Archive.

New Focus has given me a great insight into the behind-the-scenes processes that go into curating a major exhibition. It has also helped me to connect with like-minded individuals and feel motivated to create new work. 

Most recently, I was part of a group exhibition at Trapezium Arts in Bradford. Trapezium Arts is a great Bradford gallery run by volunteers that showcases work from local artists. The ‘Down to Earth’ exhibition was centred around making environmentally friendly art with recycled materials. I created a series called ‘Expired Skye’, which features cyanotype prints from photos taken on a trip to the Isle of Skye with my Dad. I took the photographs on expired 35mm film and developed them in a non-toxic, homemade developer using ingredients like coffee and vitamin C.  This approach worked well to represent the fragile, haunting landscape of Skye. 

With Bradford 2025 coming up, there are lots more opportunities arising and I feel like it’s an exciting time to be a young, creative person in this city!