Following Ewe
By Elaine Vizor
Monday 8 June to Saturday 29 August
Elaine Vizor has always been interested in photography, from being a teenager when she got her first Brownie film camera (which she still has).
After completing an elective module in black and white film photography at teacher training college in the eighties, Elaine was unfortunately unable to pursue her interest further. It was always there and after a mortality check, Elaine entered her fifties realising that it was now or never.
Elaine then studied at Bishop Auckland College and received her MA in Photography at the University of Sunderland where one of her final portraits was displayed in the London National Gallery as a Taylor Wessing Photographic Portraiture Prize finalist. Her image of the fabrication of Joseph Hillier’s IN OUR IMAGE, County Durham’s tallest sculpture was also shown in the Houses of Parliament as an EEF exhibition finalist and inspired Elaine’s love for public art.
Elaine’s exhibition Following Ewe – commissioned by Durham County Council – celebrates the iconic Wensleydale sheep breed and its official naming at the 17th Great Yorkshire Show in 1876, 150 years ago. Though named in 1876, the Wensleydale traces its lineage back to ‘Bluecap’, a single sire born in 1839 in the Yorkshire Dales. The Wensleydale breed is a luxury wool producer and the wool is very characteristic of its wavy, open crimp, high lustre, immense drape and rather long staple length. The wool is highly sought after for a range of textile crafts and offers natural sustainability in a throwaway world.
Coincidentally, 1839 is also the date of the official announcement of photography, making the application of photography, with or without a camera, a fitting response to this milestone in the Wensleydale breed’s history.
Bringing you a rare snapshot of the rare breed at a celebratory point in the breed’s history, Following Ewe invites you to take a peek at some of the work involved in rearing the sheep and aspires to give you a sense of the essence of their appearances at agricultural shows.
