No Culture Icons is Leeds based independent professional film lab and Arts collective.

No Culture Icons started purely as a collective. It was a place to share and highlight young and emerging photographers, as well as already established ones. Essentially it was somewhere for us to show a wider audience the work of photographers we enjoyed and drew influence from.

The larger idea of a collective combined with the Film Lab came about later when the photo lab Liam was working in closed down and we acquired some of the equipment. As well as wanting to use it for our own purposes it seemed logical to offer the services to other photographers. As film photography was turning into a much more seldom practiced trade it was harder to find affordable labs who knew exactly what photographer’s requirements were. We tried to fill the gap by offering our services to others. The lab has been going for only 2 or 3 months so far, and it has been hectic, and we’ve learned a lot! The idea arose from wanting to give something back to the photographic community we are involved in and want to preserve.

This year should be an exciting one we have various projects on the horizon for both the collective and also for the film lab side of things: Our first exhibition is in the works, where we will be showcasing work of photographers we’ve discovered through the lab and also people who we have looked up to throughout our photographic journey. We are also working on a zine which will highlight work of amateurs who we have discovered through the collective and from having developed their images in the film lab.

As for the Film Lab, we’re going to be adding E6 (slide film processing) to our services and have also recently acquired a printer so we will be able to offer all of the services you’d expect from a photographic lab.

Visit No Culture Icons’ website here.
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