A new visual arts exhibition in Derry uses the photographic archive of local photojournalist Willie Carson. Titled If It Hadn't Rained, the show opens at Gortfoyle Business Centre, 104-108 Spencer Road, Waterside, Derry BT47 6AG.

Michael McGinley and Mary Carson created the exhibition. McGinley, a Derry-born artist based in Manchester, works with photography, digital images, and installations. Carson, a Derry-born journalist and multimedia producer, is Willie Carson's daughter.

Willie Carson documented Derry's social and political events in the early 1970s. The exhibition starts from his original negatives. McGinley applies the MidJourney AI platform to generate new images from this material.

These AI images get re-photographed on medium-format film or made into dry collodion prints on glass. The works mix archival records, computer-generated visuals, and analogue methods.

If It Hadn't Rained forms part one of a multiphase project based in Derry. It opens on May 28 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Viewing continues on May 29 and 30 from 10am to 4pm.