Release Issued by Liverpool CC:

Open Air Gallery at Dock is Pier-fect

Albert Dock to be open air gallery for unique photos of our favourite day out 360° time lapsed views of nation's piers on display from June 17- July 15 Time and Tide brought to city as part of Sea Liverpool 2005 celebrations Ribbon cutting to open Free Exhibition at 11am on Friday, June 17

Llandudno Pier: © Lawrence George Giles 2003
Reproduced with the kind permission of Lawrence George Giles
Liverpool's historic Albert Dock is being turned into an open-air art gallery for a unique, time defying photographic exhibition this summer.

A series of 54 large-scale photographic, 360 degree, time lapsed panoramas depicting day trippers at all of England's remaining seaside pleasure piers will adorn the Dock from Friday, June 17 to Friday, July 15th.

The exhibition, entitled Time and Tide, is the brainchild of Liverpool-born photographic artist Lawrence George Giles who set out to encapsulate the nation's favourite day out in one image. His work is now set to be a major highlight of the Capital of Culture themed year - Sea Liverpool 2005.

Inspired by memories of visiting Blackpool with his grandmother in the 1960's and that Piers had dwindled by 50% in the last century, Lawrence began a tour to capture the nation's piers in late 2000.

Starting in the north east and going clockwise around the country finishing at Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast, it took four years for Lawrence to photograph and complete his work.

At each pier he would spend 5-6 hours taking more than a 1,000 photographs before returning to his studio, to spend thousands of hours knitting them together by hand to produce one of the world's longest photography exhibitions.

Lawrence, 44, said: ''I wanted to explore the place seaside pleasure piers hold in our childhood and in our collective memories. As a nation of islanders we have a great affinity for the sea. We feel drawn to it and piers are a huge part of that.

''Piers are magical places - they allow us to walk on water. And as well as their social and historical value they have a unique function as a catalyst in the creation and sharing of early and formative memory.''

As individual artworks, the photographs defy time - on occasions figures re-appear in a different parts of the image, and the changing of the light, building of sandcastles, a stroll along the beach or a football game are part of the recorded experience.

Lawrence, who describes the images as more akin to a family album, said: ''I wanted to capture a true depiction of what happened in the time I was there. So much happens when you go to the pier. These panoramas extend time. They are a narrative more than a sound bite of a moment, they allow a greater sense of naturalism to filter through.''

The series of beautiful and seamless large-scale photographic time-scapes have already won critical acclaim when exhibited in Brighton and have attracted thousands of visitors to his website www.timeandtide.info

Lawrence, once a BT engineer and now a lecturer in Graphic Design, added: "We totally underestimate our own coastline. As a nation we have perhaps for too long looked out beyond our own shores for signs of culture and have failed to realise the richness of what lies on our own doorstep.

''Ideally I hope these images help rekindle memories for those who view them and encourage people to revisit these or similar sites which may hold poignant memories for themselves.''

Lawrence moved out of Merseyside having grown up around the city centre before living in Fazakerely, Kirkby and on the Wirral, to study photography at Manchester University.

The installation of his biggest exhibition was funded by the Liverpool Culture Company. Lawrence said the exhibition will be one of his proudest moments as an artist.

The former Maricourt High School pupil added: ''You can really feel the affinity for the sea in Liverpool, with its maritime history. It's a great thrill to be exhibiting back home during the year the city celebrates Sea Liverpool. It's important to me to bring my work back to my home town. In a way it's where Time and Tide all began.''

Councillor Warren Bradley, Liverpool city council's executive member for Culture, said: ''This exhibition is like no other I've ever seen. It's a fantastic addition to our Sea Liverpool celebrations and gives the Albert Dock a completely new cultural dimension. The images are stunning, they really draw you in. It's a testament to Lawrence's skill that he has captured the magnetism of the sea.''

Professor Drummond Bone, Chairman of the Liverpool Culture Company, said: ''The city has been celebrating the sea all year and its fantastic that a Liverpool artist is giving us all such a fresh perspective to something so familiar. I think everyone who sees Time and Tide will recognise a part of their own family history in these pictures.''

Sea Liverpool 2005, supports a national series of events, SeaBritain 2005, held to celebrate Britain's maritime heritage, centred on the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.