Priaulx Library garden exhibition:

This year’s Priaulx Library Garden Exhibition will feature some of the images from the library’s collection of glass plates.

Sponsored for the 11th time by Ravenscroft, Projecting the past: the Priaulx Library’s photographs on glass will feature some of the images found on the glass plates earlier this year when library staff began cleaning, preserving, and cataloguing its collection.

“The 600 plates that we have catalogued so far cover a wide range of subjects including St Peter Port harbour, diving competitions at La Vallette, a Guernseyman’s experience of the 2nd Boer War, images of 1930s’ Guernsey and provide a record of local events and celebrations,” said Sue Laker, chief librarian at the Priaulx Library.

“The process of creating images from glass plates had been showcased in the recent Renoir exhibition as local photographer Paul Chambers had used the process to recreate some of Renoir’s. Paul has then photographed some of the library’s glass plates and we will share information in the exhibition on our collection and the process of preserving it.

“We have been incredibly lucky with the condition of some of the plates, especially when some are people’s holiday photos and have just been stored in attics for years. It’s lovely to be able to put them on display and we are incredibly grateful to Ravenscroft for its continuing support of the exhibition.”

The exhibition, which will run until early September, is free to attend with previous exhibitions attracting thousands of visitors. This year, QR codes have been added to the board to encourage visitors to make a donation towards the ongoing work of the Priaulx Library.

Ravenscroft managing director of investments at Ravenscroft, Mark Bousfield, said the exhibition had become a firm fixture in the library’s calendar: “This will be the 11th exhibition Ravenscroft has sponsored and the Priaulx Library team always finds something different to put on display. Being able to put on public display some of the library’s treasures is something we are delighted to be able to support and we look forward to seeing the complete exhibition when it is opened.”