by Emma Clayton

WHEN photographer Nancy Honey had the idea to turn her camera on women who are leaders in their field of work, it quickly snowballed.

She had a couple of names in mind then, chatting to friends, she came up with some more. Before she knew it, she was firing off emails and letters all over the country.

The result is a vibrant, life-affirming exhibition called 100 Leading Ladies, featuring portraits of influential senior women in Britain.

Nancy spent two years on the project; photographing 100 of the nation's most respected women over the age of 55 - among them academics, entrepreneurs, scientists, fashion designers, broadcasters, engineers, artists, politicians, actresses, composers and Britain's oldest supermodel - and asked each one to select their portrait setting. Some chose their homes, others their workplace, and some opted for favourite places they liked to visit. The locations offer an insight into the lives and personalities of these inspirational women.

Cookery writer Prue Leith is photographed leaning against her bookcase with a cup of coffee; wine critic Jancis Robinson sits on her bed, by a painting of her children; Professor Averil Mansfield, the UK's first female professor of surgery, beams at the camera with the wind in her hair and a railway viaduct in view behind her; Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark is relaxing in her kitchen; and Professor Germaine Greer, writer and leading feminist voice of the 20th century, is wandering around her garden.

Professor Lesley Yellowlees, professor of Inorganic Electrochemistry and the first female president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, is pictured in fits of laughter, standing next to a quirky lamp.

The exhibition is at Cartwright Hall - the first place to show it outside London - and features several Yorkshire women, including Amanda Nevill, chief executive of the British Film Institute and former head of the National Media Museum, pictured sitting at her piano.

Also photographed is Wendy Dagworthy, commissioned by the British Wool Board to create outfits using British wool. Two of Wendy's designs, made from Yorkshire wool, are at Cartwright Hall, loaned by Cliffe Castle at Keighley, where more of her work, along with with outfits by designers such as Bruce Oldfield, is on display.

Other 'Leading Ladies' captured on camera include novelist Lady Antonia Fraser; PR guru Lynne Franks; artist Maggi Hambling; former Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport, Dame Tessa Jowell; founder of Bloomsbury Publishing, Liz Calder; prominent muslim feminist Professor The Baroness Haleh Afshar; designer Betty Jackson; and Baroness Scotland, the first female attorney general.

The exhibition is accompanied by a short film of Nancy talking about the project. There is also a book of all 100 portraits, with interviews by former Times journalist Hattie Garlick.

Nancy, a former Fellow in Photography at the National Media Museum, describes her exhibition as "a living history" exploring personal and private issues surrounding women's success in the workplace. She hopes it will inspire the "next generation of young leaders".

"Young women in today's society have many celebrity role models, this creates a false picture," says Nancy in the film. She sets out to redress the balance, showing real, high-achieving women.

As well as presenting 100 portraits of influential female role models, the exhibition chronicles 50 years of Britain - and how women, and the expectations of women, have changed.

These women would have been young in the 1960s, when Britain was gripped by a cultural, sexual and social revolution and women's roles were changing.

"They are very inspirational to girls and young women; showing that you can successful in doing something you love," says Cartwright Hall's exhibitions curator Sonja Kielty. "This is refreshing in our celebrity-obsessed culture, when young people often have unrealistic and rather shallow expectations of what to aspire to.

"The photographs are colourful, fun and gorgeous, showing women over 55, in senior positions, in an informal setting and comfortable with themselves. It's easy to assume they're all posh, but that's not the case. Many of these women came from ordinary, working-class backgrounds to become high achievers, and they started out at a time when it wasn't easy for women to be successful, particularly in fields like science and engineering. They're inspiring to boys as well as girls."

Also on display is correspondence from Nancy to potential subjects and their representatives (some, including Dame Judi Dench, were too busy with other commitments to take part), and a map, complete with miniature camera and car, showing Nancy's journey around the UK.

On Wednesday, March 16 Nancy will host a tour of the exhibition for female students from Bradford Grammar School and their mothers. The event, also open to school staff and alumni, will include guest speeches and discussion by a panel featuring Hattie Garlick and Suzanne Watson, managing director of Approach PR in Ilkley.

Before that, in an event open to the public on Sunday, March 13, Nancy will talk about and lead a tour of 100 Leading Ladies and read quotes from the women's interviews.

The last word on her rather joyful exhibition goes to a line in the visitors' book: "We brought our four-year-old for inspiration."

* 100 Leading Ladies runs at Cartwright Hall until April 10. Visit 100leadingladies.com