Sir Joshua Reynolds Devonport Schools' Project

SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS DEVONPORT SCHOOLS’ PROJECT

INTRO

10 cameras x 50 rolls of film x 3 schools + 1 photographer = 739 amazing photos In November 2015, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery commissioned photographer Tim Mills to work with three schools in Devonport – Devonport High School for Boys, Mount Wise Community Primary School and St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School – on a series of free photographic workshops.

The workshops were designed to introduce the children to the portraiture of Sir Joshua Reynolds – who had a studio in Plymouth Dock (now Devonport) in the 1740s – and to explore ideas around personal, chosen, implied or imposed identities and what it is like to live and/or learn in Devonport today.

We decided to use new and vintage 35mm cameras for the project – technology that none of the children had

used before. This led to some incredible photographs being produced during the workshops such as beautifully composed portraiture, sports and action shots and street photography, as well as the unexpected and sometimes strange multiple exposures. These can be made by not winding the film forward after pressing the shutter-release button.

All the photographs taken by the children are included in this book.

The final exhibition selection was a collaboration between each school, the photographer and the Museum and Art Gallery.

DEVONPORT HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS

Selected by Devonport High School for Boys

Selected by Tim Mills, Photographer

Selected by Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

MOUNT WISE COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL

Selected by Mount Wise Community Primary School

Selected by Tim Mills, Photographer

Selected by Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

ST JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

Selected by St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

Selected by Tim Mills, Photographer

Selected by Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

Photography sessions led by Tim Mills

THANKS

In 2014 Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery with the support of the Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Friends of Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and the Heritage Lottery Fund purchased the earliest known Sir Joshua Reynolds self-portrait in oils and one of his rare surviving sketch books. The acquisitions speak of Reynolds’ early career ambitions and cement Plymouth’s link to the nation’s greatest portrait painter.

With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, we commissioned a series of photographic workshops in schools to creatively explore the heritage of portraiture in Devonport.

The resulting photographs were exhibited at Devonport Guildhall in March 2016 thanks to a donation from the South Devon Decorative and Fine Arts Society, and RIO, the South West ACE Bridge, who also contributed training for the schools to deliver Bronze Arts Award for each young person.

We would like to sincerely thank the wonderful pupils and teachers from each school for their amazing photographs, enthusiasm and commitment to the project. The results speak for themselves.