Nigel Tooby

Following a major move and an unavoidable sabbatical, Nigel has now settled and works in rural Cumbria and from his studio base there he exhibits and undertakes private assignments all over the UK.

He joined the Royal Photographic Society in 2009 and gained his Licentiate in 2010.  He was awarded Associateship of the Society (Contemporary Panel) for a submission drawn from his project “We” (2016) (formerly under the working title “Mi Familia”) which is an intimate monochrome documentary of family life and was made a Fellow of the Society (Contemporary Panel, 2012) for his book “of our times; the price of money”.

That project marked a major departure in his photographic style which, until that point, had specialised in contemporary travel, documentary and reportage photography. This led him to explore images which were pre-designed, staged, then intricately set and linked together to communicate information in a way which a single image cannot.

Accordingly, his style encompasses contemporary and documentary work as well as staged images designed for specific purposes. Much of his most recent work is created in series whereby images are carefully designed and made to comprise a single work in many parts. He is also producing work which utilises found and other materials as well as various ways of presenting images which add a further creative dimension to the work, as seen in series like “Eye Spy”, parts of which question the usual boundaries of what can be considered to be “photography” in its accepted sense.

His 2014 book, “The State we’re in” was shortlisted for the inaugural RPS international photobook prize and exhibited at Bath the same year.  In 2016 he completed his latest photobook offering, “We”, drawn from the extended series “Mi Familia”.  Meanwhile “Eye Spy”, created for the Simon on the Streets 2015 charity calendar, continues to stun audiences with outings in Harrogate, London, Bath, Wakefield and an annual one-day exhibition for the Centre for Partnerships GEM Housing event (usually) in Bradford in the late autumn. He is currently working on a new short series concerning contemporary portraiture “Cutting edge portraiture and where to find it”.

Nigel’s work was been featured four times in Contemporary Photography Journal between Summer 2013 and Spring 2017 and also in the RPS Contemporary Times in February 2014.

Most recent exhibitions and talks:

• Eye Spy, GEM, Incommunities Housing Association, Bradford, annual exhibition in Nov/Dec since 2016.
• Wakefield Camera Club, “of our times: the price of money”, May 2017
• Eye Spy, GEM, Incommunities Housing Association, Bradford, 8 December 2016
• Judge – Points Competition, Selby Camera Club, Yorkshire, 17 October 2016
• Eye Spy, The Magic Gallery, Adelaide Street, London 20th -29th April 2016
• Eye Spy, RPS HQ, Fenton House, Bath, Solo exhibition 15th Jan – 26th Feb 2016
• Guest Exhibitor, HIVE 2015, Harrogate
• Speaker at Hull International Photographic Festival, HIPFest, October 2015
• Eye Spy – extract.  pop-up exhibition.  July 2015.  G.18 The Art House, Wakefield ArtWalk
• of our times: the price of money.  Solo exhibition, 17 Jan – 1st March 2015.  Artspace Gallery, The Ropewalk, Barton.
• Eye Spy.  Solo exhibition.  October 2014.  Workhouse Modern, Harrogate
• The State we’re in.  RPS International photobook exhibition, Group exhibition, Fenton House, Bath 2014
• Speaker at NMM Bradford, 2013
• Speaker at RPS weekend seminar, University of Plymouth, 2012
• Numerous other talks to clubs and societies

Nigel is a Fellow of the RPS, a Fellow of the RSA and has work in private collections in London, Edinburgh, Dubai, Melbourne and various other places.