A competition to discover the photo that best captures the nation’s experience of lockdown has begun and the chosen picture could win a grand prize of £1000.
As social distancing measures continue to transform the daily activities we all once took for granted including how we work, socialise and raise our children, the public are being asked to share snaps that document these extraordinary times.
The competition is hosted by Stockport-based printer company Cartridge Save.
Speaking on the competition launch, Managing Director of Cartridge Save, Ian Cowley, said: “Recent months have transformed our nation beyond recognition.”
“We have a responsibility to future generations to document these changes for posterity [and] I’m really looking forward to what our hunt for the nation’s most iconic lockdown image produces.”
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The competition will be split into three categories – under 18s, 18-50, and over 50s.
Up to 25 photos will be shortlisted. These entries will then be made available for public vote, which will account for 25% of the final judging and then a judging panel will then make their final decision by selecting a winner of each category, as well as an overall winner who will take the cash prize.
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Cartridge Save
The competition will be judged by national journalist Deborah Linton and national press photographer Mark Waugh.
Deborah Linton, whose work regularly appears in The Guardian, Sunday Times, The Telegraph, Grazia and The Huffington Post, said: “The coronavirus outbreak has had a huge effect on ways of life across up and down the country, in countless different ways.”
“It is the role of storytellers to document what these changes looked and felt like so we can share in one another’s experiences.”
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Mark Waugh added: “My career has been built on a very simple formula: that the most captivating stories are the ones that unite photos with words, and there’s no bigger story in our lifetime than the coronavirus outbreak.”
“Photos are incredibly powerful storytelling tools [and] as they say – a picture is worth 1,000 words.”
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The competition is now open to the public and entries must be submitted before Monday 20th July.
Entrants under 18s category will need to submit their entry with written parental permission.
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The top 25 entries will be open to the public vote from 6th August, the panel of judges will be making their final decision towards the end of August and winners will be announced on 8th September.
You can read full T&Cs and submit your entries via the Cartridge Save website here.
What's On
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Yard Act announce handful of new headline shows ahead of 6Music gig in Manchester
Clementine Hall
Yard Act are back as they announce first round of UK headline dates since 2024, including a show right here in Manchester – but not before their BBC 6Music Festival gig later this week.
We are so, SO back.
It’s been a few years, but Yard Act have just announced a limited run of domestic shows for later in the year including their homecoming gig at the O2 Academy in Leeds on Friday, 6 November.
But after playing over in Yorkshire, the lads will be performing shows at the O2 Victoria Warehouse on the following Friday (13 Nov).
Yard Act completed the touring for their critically acclaimed second album, Where’s My Utopia?, with a victory lap back home at the 5000 capacity Millennium Square in Leeds in August ’24.
It was a record that brought a stark change of pace to the acerbic, post-punk of their debut, embracing something altogether more playful and bringing a different energy.
It shifted the dynamic on stage too, with the addition of dancing backing singers and additional musicians and openly challenged listeners to reconsider who they thought Yard Act were.
Since then, the band have been keeping busy writing and recording their third studio LP, as well as heading out across the UK and Europe with The Hives – oh, and that intimate one-off show at Blackpool Tower last May.
Following a lengthy stint in the studio, the band now look to this coming autumn for three big UK dates and we cannot wait. We spoke to them a little while back and know how much big stuff they’ve got further pipeline; you can see the interview HERE.
Booking just three headline slots, the handful of tour dates are as follows:
06 Nov – Leeds
13 Nov – Manchester
26 Nov – London
Tickets go on artist presale from 10am on Wednesday, 25 March before hitting general sale at 10am on Friday, 27 March. Sign up to grab yours right HERE.
As for those wanting to find out more about this year’s 6Music Fest, you find the full lineup and more down below.
Emily Sergeant -
11th June 2020 
