Photographers in Residence

Picturing High Streets is an ambitious and long-running photography commission, that aims to get under the skin of our high streets and capture people’s hopes and dreams. To see this cohort of exceptional photographers come together is truly exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing them bring this commission to life.

From the stories of my Dad’s red velvet wedding suit purchased on the Burges, my Mum’s performances at The Coventry Theatre on Hales Street, to my Aunt providing blindfolded mystery tours of the city in a wheelbarrow during the 1950s, Coventry has always been central to my family’s history. My work explores photographic archives, memory, community and place and what that means for our future, so I am thrilled by the creative potential of this project during a significant moment for the city.

From growing up in Stoke, to now working and photographing in the community arts sector in the area, I have always known how interesting the people that populate this city are. I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to empower local residents in my home town to have agency in telling their own stories through photography.

I am delighted that Chester will be part of Picturing High Streets with Open Eye Gallery. We're really looking forward to working with photographers Suzanne and Ciara and the team in enabling the voices of our local communities to be part of the city’s stories.

We are so excited to be partnering with Tony and Lucy over the coming months and years, especially as we build up to the opening of The Shakespeare North Playhouse in summer 2022 and celebrate Knowsley’s Borough of Culture. Their ideas around enabling others to explore self-expression through photography is a strong foundation for empowering the thriving creative communities of Prescot and allows us to further explore our position as one of Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zones.

We are delighted to be working with Rehan Jamil, an artist who grew up in Tower Hamlets and who has an innate understanding of the area and the people who live and work there. We look forward to supporting Rehan to develop as an artist and a socially engaged practitioner.

Communities have always been at the forefront of my creative practice. Having been born and bred in the same house, on the same street, in Leicester, for 19 years, instilled a deep sense of love for my city and for my surroundings. My intentions for my artistic endeavours remained consistent: to create participatory art that is engaging, liberating, and for it to carry a love of and for people and communities.