We really have been spoilt lately with an excellent range of photography exhibitions in the North of England. Here are Redeye staff's top picks of exhibitions to visit right now. Some of them are closing soon! So what are you waiting for? 

Photographing the Invisible 
Jill Furmanovsky 
Manchester Central Library, St Peters Square, Manchester  
Open until the 24th June 2023 

For the last 50 years, Jill Furmanovsky has been photographing music’s greatest icons. Now, for the first time, Jill is opening a retrospective exhibition ‘Photographing the Invisible’ at Manchester Central Library displaying some of her most famous works and hidden gems from her extensive archive.

Guest curated by Noel Gallagher and photo-historian Gail Buckland, the show, which is presented by Rockarchve.com, runs for ten weeks and features over 80 images. Subjects include Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, The Police, Bob Marley, Chic, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, The Cure, Amy Winehouse, Stevie Wonder, The Pretenders, Beyonce, to name just a few. Throughout the exhibition, visitors will be drawn into Jill’s unique relationship with her subjects and the emotive quality of her work. Bringing the stories behind the imagery closer, an audio tour narrated by Jill will be available for visitors to access through their own headphones.

How did we get here? / Where do we go now? 
Simon Roberts 
Grosvenor Shopping Centre, Chester 
Open until the 30th June 2023

Acclaimed British photographer Simon Roberts comes to Chester this Spring, with local arts charity, Chester Visual Arts (CVA).  Running from 19th May to 30th June at the Grosvenor Shopping Centre in Chester, the exhibition, supported and funded by Arts Council England, showcases the latest works of Simon Roberts, a celebrated visual artist known for his breathtaking tableaux images of the British landscape with a unique perspective on modern life in Britain, reflecting both the lure and challenges of living in a rapidly changing society.

The exhibition ‘How did we get here? / Where do we go now?’ offers a unique opportunity for locals and visitors alike to experience this thought-provoking exhibition in the area, in a space outside the typical museum or gallery setting. The showcase will give visitors the opportunity to explore the current state of Britain and the society we live in through his works, whilst presenting the opportunity for the public to contribute to the exhibition.

Zainbunnisa
Maryam Wahid 
Impressions Gallery, Bradford 
Open until the 1st July 2023 

A new exhibition at Impressions Gallery tells the story of Maryam Wahid’s remarkable journey to discover her Pakistani identity while visiting her mother’s childhood home for the first time.

“I am completely different now. I lived in Pakistan between 1962-1982, I feel I can’t live there anymore because the atmosphere of the place and people have changed so much. Pakistan will always be in my heart because it is the country I was born in, where my parents were born and where my parents rest in peace. But the UK, this is where I live, this is where my husband is from and it is where my children were born.” Nargis Wahid, formerly known as, Zaibunnisa

Zaibunnisa, an Urdu word meaning ‘the beauty of women’ refers to Maryam Wahid’s Mother’s birth name prior to emigrating from Pakistan to the UK in 1982 for an arranged marriage. The photographs tell the story of Wahid and her mother’s journey to Lahore in 2019; Wahid’s first- ever visit to Pakistan and her mother’s first visit in 20 years.

Retrospective
Chris Killip 
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle 
Open until the 3rd September 2023 

Baltic presents a full career retrospective by one of the UK's most important and influential post-war documentary photographers, Chris Killip (1946 - 2020). 

The exhibition serves as the most comprehensive survey of the photographers work, with his images from the North East of England at the core.

Grounded in sustained immersion into the communities he photographed, Chris Killip's photographs of those affected by economic throughout the 1970s and 80s in the North of England remain without parallel. Whilst marking a moment of de-industrialisation, Killip's stark yet tender observation moves beyond the urgency to record such circumstances, to affirm the values of lives he grew close to - lives that, as he once described 'had history done to them'. 

The exhibition is curated by Ken Grant & Tracy Marshall-Grant and produced in collaboration with The Photographer's Gallery, London. 

uMoya: The Sacred Return of Lost Things
David Aguacheiro, Rahima Gambo and Sandra Suubi 
Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool 
Open until the 17th September 2023 

Taking over historic buildings, unexpected spaces and art galleries, Liverpool Biennial – the UK’s largest free festival of contemporary visual art – has been transforming the city through art for over two decades. New venues and sites announced for the 12th edition include historic buildings Tobacco Warehouse and Cotton Exchange, and retail and leisure destination Liverpool ONE, which join leading arts venues such as Tate Liverpool, Bluecoat, FACT Liverpool, Open Eye Gallery, Victoria Gallery and Museum and World Museum. A dynamic programme of free exhibitions, performances, screenings, community and learning  activities and fringe events unfolds over 14 weeks, shining a light on the city’s vibrant  cultural scene.

The artists at Open Eye Gallery highlight Western exploitative practices related to the extraction and destruction of natural resources in African countries. Work by David Aguacheiro and Rahima Gambo is presented alongside a new iteration of Sandra Suubi’s performance installation ‘Samba Gown’.