STEPHEN LEWIS visits a new exhibition of photographs by Evening Press photographers.

IT IS a genuinely shocking image - apparently brutalised children reaching hands through the bars of a cage, begging for help.

Fortunately, Evening Press photographer Mike Tipping's picture is art rather than life. He took the photo to illustrate a story about the Stagecoach Youth Theatre's production of Run Ragged in 2003.

Like all the best art, and all the best photography, it makes you stop and think.

Hopefully, that will be true of many of the images in the new exhibition of 30 photographs by Evening Press photographers which opens the new season of exhibitions at the Treasurer's House in York.

All the images here were taken to illustrate news stories that ran in the pages of the Press over the past 12 to 24 months or so.

They include:

The dramatic - David Harrison's astonishing photograph of the Red Arrows apparently about to collide in mid-air above Linton-on-Ouse

The stylish - Mike Tipping's stunning photo of models displaying giant Royal Mail stamps;

The mysterious - Frank Dwyer's image of pollen blowing from trees in Dalby Forest;

The comic - Bargain Hunt presenter David Dickinson's close encounter with a pigeon in Shambles, again taken by Mike Tipping.

Other images our snappers have captured which have made it on to the walls of the Treasurer's House art gallery for this exhibition include a dog wrapped in a raincoat waiting outside a shop for its master; the recently-retired Archbishop of York coming face to face with a statue of himself destined for Selby Abbey; and a frog crouching on the surface of a pond. There are also dramatic views of Drax power station and a caped policeman cycling down a rain-wet street with his legs splayed wide.

When Jane Whitehead, National Trust property manager at the Treasurer's House, was looking for a subject for the new season's first photography exhibition, it seemed natural to turn to her local newspaper.

"It is great, because the photographs here are great fun, and I think they will appeal to all ages and all interests," she said. "Hopefully, people will come along and by looking at these get a flavour of what's been happening in the region.

"They will also give people an idea of what it is possible to do with a camera. There are so many people who have cameras, but they don't always appreciate the skill needed to get superb shots like these."

The photos are displayed on the whitewashed walls of the Treasurer's House art gallery, underground in the former servants' quarters.

Although the National Trust property has had its own art gallery for several years now, this is only the second time photographs have gone on show.

The exhibition runs until the end of April. But Jane is keen to hear from other local artists and photographers who would be interested in seeing their work on display.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be painters or photographers," she said. "We're interested in all forms of art. It is a lovely display space that we have here, and it just adds that extra dimension to what the Treasurer's House has to offer.

The Treasurer's House is open from 11am to 4.30pm Saturday through to Thursday, and is closed on Friday. Entry to the art gallery, tea-rooms and gardens is free. Entry to the rest of the house is £4.80 (adult), £2.40 (child), £12.00 (family ticket).

There will be a free entry week for York residents from Saturday April 23- Thursday April 28, when anyone with a York residents' card can get in free of charge. "We just want to encourage local people to come along and enjoy the house," said Jane. "We are here for everybody to enjoy, not just visitors."

Updated: 09:15 Saturday, March 19, 2005