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Mr Monkey sees A World Observed at the Manchester Art Gallery, 13th July


Mr Monkey scampered along to the City Art Gallery to have a proper look at A World Observed 1940-2010, which is currently occupying most of the top floor of the gallery.

Mr Monkey examining the poster advertising the exhibition on the railings outside the gallery Dorothy Bohm was born in Koninsberg, East Prussia. After the Nazis occupied Memel in 1939, Dorothy - then aged 15 - was sent to Britain.

As she was getting on the train her father gave her his Leica camera and suggested she might find something to do wih it.

She studied photography at Manchester College of Technology, took up portrait photography, and opened her own studio, Studio Alexander, in on Market Street in 1946.

In the 1950s she found out she really liked open air photography and travelled the world with her husband taking black & white photographs. In 1984, after experimenting with Polaroids, she switched to colour film, which she's stayed with ever since.

A World Observed is the first retrospective covering Dorothy Bohm's entire career; Mr Monkey thinks it's totally appropriate that the exhibition should open in Manchester, where her career itself started.
Photography isn't allowed in the exhibition so the pictures below show Mr Monkey standing in front of cards purchased from the gallery shop.
Mr Monkey looking at 42nd Street, New York City, by Dorothy Bohm (1956) Mr Monkey looking at Murano, Venice, by Dorothy Bohm (1986)
The exhibition starts with a small collection of portraits photographs taken at her Manchester studio.

This is followed by a sizable collection of black and white photos taken around the world. These are a combination of shots of people - especially children and old ladies - and dramatic landscapes. This was Mr Monkey's favourite section of the exhibition; there's a strength and immediacy in many of the images that fascinated him.

The final section is a large collection of colour photographs. Mr Monkey wasn't quite as taken with all of these as he had been with the earlier pictures.

Mr Monkey enjoyed reading magazine articles and comparing different models of camera in display cases dotted about the exhibition, and had fun in learning about the process of making prints in a not-very-dark room. He was surprised to find that Dorothy Bohm used yellow light instead of red light in her dark room.
A World Observed 1940-2010 runs until August 30th.

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