Headlines
Joining the ranks
08 October 2020
4walls caught up with specialist military photographer Beth Young to learn more about how her and her husband pulled together to become the go-to framers for the Army Foundation College in Harrogate.
“Over 20 years ago we had a small gallery and framing shop in Knaresborough. Tony and I had just married and were looking to set up our own business where we could utilise both of our skills sets. Tony has always been a framer and worked originally for Palace Galleries who were a large print supplier, and because of my interest in photography and art, it just made sense to set up a framing shop with a fine art gallery.
“The business was split quite evenly between bespoke framing and ready framed prints. One day we were approached by an officer at the Army Foundation College to take a photograph of the lads in his platoon, and the direction of our business then changed dramatically. I did photography as part of my BA Hons in Fine Art and Design, so this was an offer I was pleased to accept.
“The Army Foundation College provides young soldiers who are aged between 16 – 17 years old with initial training in the British Army. They receive education and all arms training, and are assisted as they decide which regiment they want to join once they have completed their training. Over the years, the business developed as did our relationship with the college, and we now work within all parts of the college providing photography, framing and presentations. We do work with a few other military establishments, but the majority of our business has always been with the AFC.
“Because we are on site most days of the week, it enables us to collect items from the permanent staff and deliver back the framed pieces. As most of the staff at the college are only there for two years and tend to have photos from the majority of postings, we often re-frame a whole career’s worth of photos in matching frames. This work typically requires more traditional wooden gold frames and occasionally dark wooden modern frames, and Larson-Juhl is our go to supplier for this type of look.
“We tend to use just a few basic Larson-Juhl mouldings, though having said that, we have framed some amazing and unusual things over the years. These include tarantulas, hip joints and hair to name but a few! Our work can be incredibly varied, I have lost count of the number of rugby and football shirts we’ve framed, and very often we frame commissions and warrant certificates that have been in tubes for years. We have also rubbed shoulders with royals and high-ranking soldiers and have photographed some impressive names including Prince Charles, Prince Edward and Princess Anne!
“Tony has developed our work with Gurkha Company at 2ITB, Catterick and we have been able to meet some wonderful people over the years. We count ourselves very lucky to have been given the opportunity to work with the Army and have enjoyed every minute of it... well, nearly every minute!
“We have been supplied by Larson-Juhl since we started and have found the company to be the only ones we can really rely on for deliveries and quality. Our rep, Richard Clayton, has been invaluable to us.
“In terms of our ambitions for the future, we are enjoying what we do at the moment and working with the Army has been totally all consuming, so it takes a lot of time to keep up with all the work that is coming in. During lockdown we were incredibly lucky. We do four big parades per year where we photograph all of the new intakes, and had managed to do this just before the lockdown was announced, so had enough work to see us through the whole three months! The Army remains very loyal to us, and if we continue do a good job and put ourselves out there for them (which we do!), hopefully they will continue to use our services.”
