Audio Descriptions: Peter Mitchell

Audio descriptions and transcripts of five photographs in the exhibition Peter Mitchell: Nothing Lasts Forever at The Photographers' Gallery

 Colour photograph of the back of a house on a  street. An old man in an apron stands on the street.

Audio Descriptions: Peter Mitchell

Audio descriptions and transcripts of five photographs in the exhibition Peter Mitchell: Nothing Lasts Forever at The Photographers' Gallery

Audio description in galleries and museums aims to make visual information accessible using verbal description. The Photographers' Gallery has, for several years, also linked audio description to slow looking and to visual literacy.

The audio files for an introduction to the exhibition and five audio descriptions for five works in the exhibition are below. A transcript of each audio description is also available.

These audio descriptions have been produced by Eleanor Margolies, a writer and audio describer. She has a background in puppetry and theatre design, with interests in ecology and the role of the senses in performance. She audio describes in museum, theatre and dance contexts.

About: Peter Mitchell: Nothing Lasts Forever 

Peter Mitchell (b.1943, UK) is widely regarded as one of the most important early colour photographers of the 1970s and 80s. A powerful storyteller and social historian, Mitchell’s photography unfolds a longstanding and poetic connection with Leeds. He has chronicled the people and places, and the demolition and development of the city with warmth and familiarity for over 40 years. The exhibition will include rarely seen works from Mitchell’s own collection, personal ephemera and found objects. 

Colour photograph of a scarecrow in the middle of a  field of wheat.

Peter Mitchell, Scarecrow 28 © Peter Mitchell

Colour photograph of a wardrobe with a mirror  perched to the left of the wardrobe and a pair of heels in  front.

Peter Mitchell, Priestly House, Quarry Hill Flats, 1978 © Peter Mitchell

ABC (Aerated Bread Company offices), Camden Road, London, 1979

Colour photograph of a storefront with the letters  ‘ABC’ written on the front

ABC (Aerated Bread Company offices), Camden Road, London, 1979. From the series A New Refutation of the Viking 4 Space Mission © Peter Mitchell

Colour photograph taken across the street of a  house with a large group of Rastafari men setting up sound  systems outside.

The Sir Yank’s Heavy Disco, Harehills Avenue, Leeds, 1978. From the series A New Refutation of the Viking 4 Space Mission © Peter Mitchell

Francis Gavan, Ghost Train Ride, Woodhouse Moor, Leeds, Spring 1986

 Colour photograph of a man standing in front of a  packed up fairground ride.

Peter Mitchell, Francis Gavan, Ghost Train Ride, Woodhouse Moor, Leeds, Spring 1986. From the series Nothing Lasts Forever © Peter Mitchell