Lightworks officially opened its doors for business at 122 Lowergate on the 28th November 1998.
To celebrate reaching their twentieth anniversary, the company held a studio open-day (it’s always open during business hours really) on Saturday 24th November, followed by a little knees -up at The Old School Rooms for friends and family.
With numerous demonstrations and a variety of ongoing commissions and projects down on the benches, the open-day proved to be a huge success with a constant stream of people coming and going. Fuelled by endless cups of tea and coffee, biscuits and cake, there was a genuine sense of interest in and around the work on the benches. Alongside ongoing live projects were images of hundreds of projects and commissions carried out over the course of the last twenty years being displayed on a large HD slideshow. Capturing the celebratory spirit of the day was good friend and photographer Derren Lee Poole. This post includes just a small selection of the shots he took and feature brother and sister owners Daniel & Deborah Burke and life-long friend and Lightworks craftswoman Abigail Fielding.
Of the milestone anniversary, Daniel says: “It’s quite something to think we’ve been working away in our little studio together for twenty years but those years have literally flown by. It helps that we love what we do and though working with a sibling might not necessarily be for many people, with the different knowledge and skills we bring to the job, it certainly works for us”. He continues, “Stained glass is an ancient craft but one that is still very relevant in the 21st Century. While we embrace social media and all of today’s modern tools, we are hugely thankful to be able to contribute to the continuation of a skill that, like all heritage crafts, remains defiantly analogue in a digital age. We very much look forward to the next twenty years!”
A particular stand out moment of the day was when a group of five or six young lads stood outside the studio window proceeding to break out into an impromtu rendition of Happy Birthday; each was then gratefully rewarded with a cupcake for their efforts.
To see more of Derren Lee Poole’s work visit his website here: https://phunkography.format.com/latest#1
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