AN exhibition of photographs and poetry evoking the spirit of Northern landscapes has gone on show this week.

Northern Grit, at the Durham Light Infantry Museum and Durham Art Gallery, features the work of photographer Pat Maycroft and her fellow poets from Vane Women.

The group started as a writing class in Darlington Arts Centre in the early 1990s.

The members had long admired Ms Maycroft's photography and chose shots they wanted to write about.

They were brought together in a best-selling book called Northern Grit, which is now in its second edition.

The photographs in the exhibition span many years and created a number of problems for those putting the display together.

Some of the negatives could not have withstood darkroom treatment and had to be scanned to remove damage.

They were then transferred to uniformly sized photographic paper to help create a sense of unity between pictures taken over many years. Some of the photographs are recent digital shots.

Northern Grit is on show until May 23. Ms Maycroft will hold a meet-the-artist and book signing event at the gallery at 2pm on Saturday.

Published: 13/05/2004