Women Like You

I submitted this photo of my Grandma :)

Women Like You: Submit photos for International Women's Day 2010

Manchester Art Gallery exhibition

Is there a woman in your life that has inspired you? Then Manchester based artist Charlotte Newson would like a photograph of them.

Women, by their very nature, are strong characters and Manchester is full of strong and motivating women. We want to celebrate the lives of these ordinary women who in their own way are doing extraordinary things every day.

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2010 (IWD), the city council in partnership with the Pankhurst Centre has commissioned Charlotte to create a new portrait of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst for an exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery called Women Like You (6 March – 9 May 2010).

All the donated photographs will be scanned and digitally recorded and will be used to make up the portrait of Manchester’s famous suffragette daughter Emmeline Pankhurst.

The theme of IWD 2010 follows on from this year’s theme which focused on the inspiration and aspirations of women.

Councillor Val Stevens, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council said: “This project gives all of us the chance to think about women who have inspired us. And it’s not just about women; we want men to send photos of women that have made an impact in their life as well. We want to celebrate and recognise the positive aspects of women and their contribution to society. And it will be a chance to be involved in some way in a piece of artistic history in the city.”

Councillor Sue Murphy, Lead member for Women’s issues at Manchester City Council said: “Women, by their very nature, are strong characters and Manchester is full of strong and motivating women. We want to celebrate the lives of these ordinary women who in their own way are doing extraordinary things every day.”
Artist Charlotte Newson said: “We want photographs of women that you feel have made an impact on your life. It really could be anyone – your mother, grandmother, friend, teacher, historical figure or even a contemporary personality. We would like them all.”

Photographs are needed by the end of November to give the artist time to create the portrait. If you have a photograph you would like to contribute you can do so by visiting this facebook group

Photographs can also be dropped off now at the Pankhurst Centre, 60-62 Nelson Street M13 and at Manchester Art Gallery and Manchester Central Library between 1 November and 1 December 2009 where special boxes will be available to place them. Please note, it will not be possible to return photographs.

The finished artwork will be officially unveiled at IWD 2010 and will be on display at Manchester Art Gallery until 9 May 2010.
More info here

Jessops Photo Printing: Review

I decided to use Jessops photo to get some photos printed, with the suggestion (screenshot below) that I could order the prints online, and then I could collect them from my local Jessops shop soon afterwards, and not need to pay postage charges.



So I started with the order process. This was straightforward, and it was easy to order different prints in different sizes, which I needed to do.

Then you give them your details, then pay. One of the payment options was paypal, which was also good for me.

But then it got odd. It was only after they had taken your payment that the images were actually uploaded. This presents many problems, mainly that if there are then difficulties in uploading the photos, you are stuck. You have already paid - what happens if the upload does not work? I use chrome browser, which can have difficulties on certain sites, so I could have had real problems.

Thankfully though, the upload worked ok. But I found that rather than them being ready to collect within 30 minutes, it would in fact take 1-3 working days for the photos to be printed.

So yesterday I checked the order tracking, and found that they had been printed. Good, I thought, they are ready (I need them for Thursday). But no, they are still not ready to collect because it will now take another 1-3 working days for them to be delivered to the store!

The store I ordered them to be collecting from does photo printing, so why do they have to be printed elsewhere and delivered to the store? The time taken to get hold of my photos started at a promised 30 minutes on Monday, and could end up being 6 working days - more than a week! Next Tuesday!

I have no idea whether they will be ready for me to collect tomorrow, when I really need them. All I can say is that they had better be excellent quality prints.

In addition to all this, they don't tell you that you need to own a printer until the confirmation that the photos have been printed has arrived by email. At that stage they tell you that to collect the photos you need a print-out of the email.

I am really not impressed by the misleading message on the original Jessops site screen. There are suggestions on the 'order tracking' page that I should check my local shop's webpage to find out which day they take deliveries on, but that information is nowhere to be found. I will be charged for calling an 0845 number to call the store to find out. Also, the uploading after payment, and the very late notice that if you don't have a printer then you presumably can't collect the prints you have ordered, and already paid for, are both fraught with difficulties.

Not dead impressed, Jessops, I'm afraid.