An outdoor photography festival will hit the streets and parks of Preston in June featuring images of local people dressed in their best – inspired by the famous Clarks Shoes’ Preston Is My Paris advert.

Lancashire Photography Festival will display the work of some of the world’s best photographers alongside local Preston people.

And the people of Preston are being invited to take part by attending a free portrait session photoshoot.

Organisers want people to get dressed up in their best outfits and come and be photographed by professional Lancashire-based photographer Andy Ford.

The session will take place at Avenham Walk opposite The Harris Institute – the same location used for the Clarks Preston Is My Paris advert 19 years ago.

Some of the portraits will be printed and displayed during the photography festival. All of the images will be shown during the festival at one of several photo projection events.

The session takes place between 11am and 2pm on Sunday 7 May. This is a free drop-in session, with no need to book. In the event of bad weather, the session will be postponed until Monday 8 May, with Sunday 14 May pencilled in as a second back-up date.

Anyone with questions can email organiser Garry Cook on gazcook@googlemail.com with the subject line ‘Preston Is My Paris’.

The Preston Is My Paris photoshoot is just one of several opportunities to take part in the Lancashire Photography Festival.

Opportunities will include workshops, talks, projections, a live-stream photo walk, a community photo wall, pop-up portrait sessions, photography performances, a 48-hour multi-photographer documentary project and a world-first photographic parade.

Every school within a three-mile radius of Preston will be offered the chance to receive a free photography exhibition sent through the post, to be displayed on their own premises so that all children in Preston and South Ribble get the chance to engage with and experience the power of photography.

The Preston Is My Paris project is one of several legacy projects that will help Lancashire Photography Festival create a rich archive of photographic images connected to the city of Preston. The festival aims to attract the biggest number of visitors to the city outside of Preston Guild.

In 2021, the trial version of the festival saw over 200 large-scale images displayed outdoors across 16 locations across the city, showcasing the work of over 60 photographers.

Lancashire Photography Festival will be the UK’s biggest outdoor photography festival, backed up by a series of photography events that will take place during the four-month period of the festival. 

The photographers taking part in the festival will be announced over the coming weeks.

The festival is funded by Arts Council England, with support from Friends of Winckley Square CIC.

Organiser Cook said: “The response to the trial festival was jaw-dropping, with so much positivity from local people and so many others travelling into the city from across the North West. I was contacted be people telling me how much they loved the festival who had travelled from Birmingham, Bristol and Hull.

“This festival will be much bigger than the one two years ago. I’ve already received huge help from Avenham and Miller Park manager Fiona Porter and Park Warden Tony Lewis, and the Friends of Winckley Square.

“We have a long-term aim to make Preston a genuine visitor attraction, bringing in tourists who would not otherwise come to the city. Photography is a powerful, enduring medium which has a huge fanbase in Britain – people will travel long distances to see a photography exhibition. 

“This festival in Preston is offering over a dozen exhibitions, all in one place. This a unique event that will make Preston a unique city. I hope to get further funding for it in 2024 and work with other organisations in the city to make it one of the biggest photography festivals in Europe.”

Full details about Lancashire Photography Festival will be released in the coming weeks on the Enjoy the Show website.

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