A new exhibition opening at Wolverhampton Art Gallery on Friday (30 March) will showcase the incredible and completely unexpected photos of John Myers.

The Lichfield Street gallery will be displaying more than 150 of John Myers' photographs. The majority of the images were taken in and around Stourbridge during the 1970s, and are a clear and incisive recording of a world long gone.

Myers was at the cutting edge of 1970s photography and if he had been working in America he would certainly have been a part of The New Topographics movement, which was recognised for its no frills documentary appearance.

Working with a large format Gandolfi plate camera his images have a sharpness and depth that is missing from many of the photos we see today. This is particularly noticeable in his portraits where the subject and the background are brilliantly sharp making the details worth a second and third look.

Marguerite Nugent, Arts and Culture Manager, said: "The city is delighted to be featuring the work of John Myers and helping to show what an important and influential artist he is.

"His photos have a broad appeal, reminding people of important local sites with a candid snapshot of our area's history, while demonstrating to budding photographers that outstanding images are the product of great technique."

The last major retrospective of Myers' work took place at Birmingham's Ikon Gallery in 2011. Curated by Pete James and Jonathan Watkins, the exhibition saw Myers receive the same attention as Midlands photographers Vanley Burke, Janet Mendelsohn, Derek Bishton, Brian Homer and John Reardon.

The exhibition will run until Sunday 17 June.

  • released: Tuesday 27 March, 2018