PhotoBath was established in 2014 to celebrate, promote and support documentary and fine art photography in Bath and other UK areas. We have since widened our reach and become more international in outlook.

We currently have active members from Poland, South Africa as well contributors from all areas of the UK and Europe. Exhibitions by Sebastiao Salgado, Carlo Chinca along with regular creative documentary exhibitions have helped us establish a wider reputation and audience.

We are a non-commercial organisation with a collective ethos, and our priorities are to support local and national photographers, and stimulate new photographic practices through challenging and experimental projects. We have organised exhibitions, workshops and publications, including collaborations with respected local and national partners, and have earned a reputation for delivering on ambitious programmes in the City of Bath..

PhotoBath has relaunched after the Covid 19 lockdown, with a renewed commitment to promote the best documentary and fine art practise. Formal membership has been discontinued and participation in ongoing projects will be by invitation, involving photographers producing interesting and stimulating work, who are committed to contributing to our aims, objectives and ethos.

Between 2014 – 2020 PhotoBath produced two main exhibitions, four member exhibitions, one virtual exhibition and we have published four books of photography. In 2022 we introduced new associates by staging our ‘Documentary’ exhibition at 44AD Artspace to much acclaim and high attendance levels.

Calling all photographers!

At PhotoBath, we’re eager to see your unique take on three exciting themes:

1. BROKEN – Capture the beauty in the cracks, fractures, and stories of resilience hidden in the broken.
2. STILL LIVES – Push the boundaries of still life photography by exploring the extraordinary in the everyday.
3. PEOPLE ARE STRANGE – Celebrate the quirky, unexpected, and unforgettable moments that make us human.

Show us the world through your lens and surprise us with your creativity!

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Submissions

At PhotoBath we are constantly on the look-out for new photographers to feature on the site. However we are also keen to maintain a very specific style of creative documentary imagery. We are looking for photographers with a confident and consistent vision who make images that can be described as documentary. Photographers who are pushing the boundaries of what is traditionally considered Documentary whilst maintaining creative integrity go to the front of the queue.

Please click here for full details.

Christopher Roche was born in Quebec, Canada to Irish parents. He has since lived in Africa and several cities around Europe. Dividing his time between working as a filmmaker and a photographer he is now based near Bath. He has won many awards internationally and his photographs have been published in the national press and many magazines including the Royal Photographic Society Journal and Stern Magazine. He has exhibited at Royal Geographical Society in London and at United Nations Office at Geneva.

Carlo Chinca – It all started when I was about 10yrs old. With a schoolfriend and the aid of a Kodak Brownie we bought from Woolworths we took some photographs then developed and contact printed the film in my friend’s coal cellar! In the years that followed I studied part-time at an art school where finally I took up photography and, being self-taught, launched myself into the streets with my Nikon F while working in the hospital mortuary and pathology lab.

Chris Niedenthal – Born in London (1950) of Polish parents. Educated at Cardinal Vaughan Grammar school in London and Belmont Abbey, Hereford. Studied photography at the London College of Printing (now the London College of Communications) 1969-1972.

At the end of his studies he worked as a general dogsbody and photographer at Features International (later called Syndicated Features) for 6 months after which he travelled to Poland in 1973, ostensibly for just a few months and never really returned to his country of birth. Meaning he has lived in Warsaw for nearly 50 years now.