Norwich Arts Centre launches their new season with a delightfully dark exhibition of meticulously staged, cinematic noir visions, captured in a single photograph by artist Ellen Rogers. The ‘Story Boards’ exhibition begins on Monday 4th September at the St. Benedicts Street venue.

Ellen Rogers’s work is carefully presented, but the end result is anything but staid, with the works reminiscent of scenes straight out of a sinister art house film. Everything in the images is deliberate; the wallpaper is specially hung, chairs made to exact designs, and the models are carefully selected for their role. Nothing is left to chance. By eliminating all external factors Ellen has complete creative control of the outcome of the photograph. She likens the process to creating a cinematic mise-en-scène, conveying the narrative in a single shot with costume, props, lighting and composition.

Her panoramic images explore the possibilities of extending a narrative mood through a period of time (like a film), but within the boundaries of a single photographic image.

As well as photography, drawing is an integral part of Ellen’s work. She makes drawings to provide a clear definition of the photographic outcome, and to demonstrate the fabricated nature of the image. They show that every scene has been composed according to her vision, rather than having been selected from an existing space.

‘Story Boards’ runs at the Norwich Arts Centre Café Gallery from Monday 4th September to Thursday 5th October. The Café Gallery is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 7pm with free admission.