
The Executive Committee is pleased to invite members of all YPU clubs to our Annual Keighley Day event, which will be held at Carleton Community Centre, Carleton Rd, Pontefract, WF8 3RJ. The event is dedicated to the memory of Alexander Keighley, a founder member of the YPU.


Arrangements for the day and booking forms will be made available later but we are pleased to announce that our two speakers sessions will be presented by Bill Ward and Oliver Wright, whose work and interests are shown below.
Bill Ward





Bill Ward is a multi-award winning photographer and actor, born and raised in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
He was awarded the Adobe Prize at the 2015 UK Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards (also Commended 2013 and 2020), Best Seascape at the 2020 Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards, and runner up in the “Your Vision” category at SLPOTY 2021. He is a judge for UK Landscape Photographer of the Year, and his work is frequently Commended, Shortlisted and Nominated in competitions all over the world.
His work has been exhibited in numerous fine art galleries around the UK including the Mick Oxley Gallery in Northumberland, Contemporary Six and the Wendy J Levy Gallery in Manchester, and has been featured in newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, and books. He’s been a regular writer and contributor for the worldwide “ICM Photography Magazine” since its inception, and gives talks at Festivals, Shows, and Camera Clubs all over the world. He uses Pentax cameras, is proud to be an Ambassador for Pentax Ricoh UK, and a Tour Leader for Light and Land. He also runs his own highly successful 121 and group workshops, as well as shooting for the photographic agencies Robert Harding and Arena Pal.
His primary photographic subject matter is solitude, in all its forms. He believes that photography is essentially a meeting, between you and wherever you happen to be. A lifelong traveller, he’s interested not just in the places he goes, but the time that he spends in them. It’s this that forms the basis of his work: specifically how it felt to spend this particular time, with this particular place. One of the UK’s leading Creative Photographers, he has a worldwide following, and is particularly drawn to water.
An actor for over 25 years, he has performed in over 30 Television shows and films, and over 50 plays since turning professional in 2000.
He is probably best known for playing the badly behaved builder Charlie Stubbs in the UK TV show Coronation Street, a role he played for over 400 episodes and three and a half years, and for which he won numerous awards. He also played the long-suffering farmer James Barton in Emmerdale, also for more than 3 years and 300 episodes, and for which he was also nominated for a number of awards. Recent TV work includes After Life for Netflix, The Hunt for Raoul Moat for ITV, and Before We Die for Channel 4/Worldwide. He has just finished filming a brand new TV series for a major worldwide streaming service due for broadcast 2025.
His Theatre work includes multiple roles in London’s West End (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Spamalot, Million Dollar Quartet, Viva Forever), UK Tours (The Full Monty, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Glee Club, Shakespeare in Love, Legally Blonde, Look Back in Anger), Rep Theatre (Newcastle Theatre Royal, Bristol Old Vic, Bath Theatre Royal, Manchester Royal Exchange, Northern Stage, Theatre Clwyd), New Writing (National Theatre Studio, Battersea Arts Centre, White Bear) and Off West End (Southwark Playhouse, Greenwich Theatre).
Constantly in search of peace and quiet, his photography is a response, and in many ways an antidote, to the time he spends as an actor working in the public eye.
www.billwardphotography.co.uk
billward@billwardphotography.co.uk
@billwardphotography
Oliver Wright









Oliver has been a Yorkshire professional photographer since 2014 after a career in project management. He has always had a keen interest in nature and wildlife. During the autumn and winter he has been guiding clients to view and photograph aurora, arctic landscapes and wildlife in Abisko, Northern Sweden. Then in the summer Oliver focuses on his own projects especially wildlife and macro photography and also guiding workshops both in the UK and abroad. Oliver has worked closely with Canon since 2015 talking at some of the major events such as Bird Fair and the Photography Show.
www.oliverwrightphotography.com
Mobile: 07834740301
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