Elements of Nature is a collaborative arts project by Left Bank Leeds, bringing together early-career artists, local communities, and the natural environment. Inspired by 12 natural elements—Earth, Water, Light, Shadow, Time, and more—artists and participants co-create new artworks through workshops, outdoor exploration, and creative experimentation. The final works will be showcased in a public exhibition at Left Bank Leeds in November 2025.

This project is funded by Leeds Inspired & Leeds City Council as part of their Grow Cultural development program.

Meet the Artist: Annabel Cohen

Annabel is a photographic artist whose work explores the intersections between nature, materiality, and memory. Her practice focuses on tactile, sustainable and alternative photographic processes, often using plants, sunlight and found materials. Alongside this, she reflects on how photography exists in digital spaces, blending archaic processes with contemporary platforms to examine identity, memory, and expression.

She is also interested in urban spaces and psychogeography, exploring how place influences emotion and memory. She aims to create spaces for curiosity, connection and collaboration, encouraging participants to notice overlooked details and engage creatively with their surroundings.

Element: Light & Time

Join Annabel for a cyanotype workshop that invites participants to rediscover everyday beauty through light, time and memory. Working with images from personal phone archives, we’ll transform the overlooked and ordinary into striking blue prints. Through this process, we’ll re-see what’s already been captured, but not always noticed.

What to Expect

• Learn the cyanotype process and how light transforms images into blue prints
• Reflect on your own digital archive and the quiet significance of everyday photos
• Experiment with layering images and natural materials
• Create, journal, and share reflections on memory, time and the overlooked details of daily life

✨ Come with curiosity and your camera roll — this is a space to slow down, reframe, and rediscover the beauty in the mundane.

Workshop Structure:

• Welcome & Introduction (15 mins) – Annabel introduces herself and the cyanotype process. Participants are invited to see their phone camera roll not as storage, but as a visual diary.
• Reflecting on Camera Roll (20 mins) - Participants are guided to look through their personal photo galleries, reflecting on everyday encounters and overlooked details. Choose 2-3 images to work with for their cyanotype prints.
  
  • Optional: To collect natural materials (leaves, flowers) from the Left Bank Community Garden to create compositions with.
• Preparing Cyanotype Paper (20 mins) – Participants mix the cyanotype solution and coat it onto paper, Annabel prints out negatives. 
• Cyanotype Exposure (30 mins) – Negatives are placed over cyanotype paper and exposed to UV light. Exposures take place under UV light (~10 mins per batch).
• Developing Cyanotypes (15–20 mins) – Exposed prints are washed and left to dry, producing vivid blue images.

Closing Sharing Circle (15 mins) – Participants share print and reflections.

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📍 Location: Left Bank Leeds
🎟 Cost: Free (please reserve a ticket to secure a place)
👥 Who Can Join: Open to all (no experience required)

What to Expect:

• Hands-on experimentation with cyanotype printing and photography
  
• Reflection and playful engagement with textures in the environment
  
• Opportunities to contribute to collaborative artworks for exhibition
  
  

✨ Come curious! This is a chance to slow down, observe, experiment, and take home unique, tactile artworks.

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