This is a great project- Photographer Tom Oldham collects photo books and makes sure they find their way to school photo departments through his project Creative Corners …5000 books donated so far!
While delivering a workshop to the students at his old school in Dorset he noticed they didn’t have an active library of technical, reference or art books. Photo-books are a valuable resource to large groups of students who can’t access quality photography bookshops, galleries or shows. So Tom decided to empty his shelves of some lovely but under-utilised photo-books.
• ‘Some state schools we work with have seen funding for art materials cut from £8.25 to £1.85 per child, per year. They are under-funded and cannot afford expensive resource like photobooks.’
If you have any spare photo or creative books you’d like to pass on to a school you will find Tom at the photo and film expo Photo North in Manchester this May. You can donate your creative books or equipment to the project. Take them along to Photo North Festival and look for Tom the Live Lounge. Or you can post books to Tom, he can arrange the collection of books from your office or in person, so do get in touch.
Tom: “Then it occurred to me that I can’t be the only one with photo-books to spare. I put what I was doing out on my socials, asking others if they would donate books too and the result was astonishing. People brought wonderful, heavy books to me from all over the country. It really has been a beautiful sharing experience.”