This project began in the London Borough of Lewisham as a series of photowalks with people of different backgrounds and abilities coming together with the common purpose of walking through the neighbourhood and making photographs of what was noticed.
Equipped with digital cameras, much enthusiasm and a willingness to connect and look deeper at our surroundings we created four unique and beautiful group photowalks, led through the eyes of local people before we had to halt!
Covid-19 stopped us in our tracks and we retreated to the safety of our homes in the shadow of a pandemic. What now?
Undeterred, but mindful of the guidance and everchanging situation, we took time to reflect. What came next was an opportunity to connect with people in a different way, through our common experience and in keeping with the project ethos. We switched from digital to film, enabling us to give a single-use camera (recyclable) to each household along with guidance and stimulus for the next part of the common journey.
The photography activity packs created and provided, meant that the project continued to be accessible to the most vulnerable, including people that were self-isolating. The outcome is a record for our time.
Busy streets became empty, the interior space became the new hub of life as we all tried to adjust to this new way of being. This project is testimony to the resilience of the people of Lewisham, joining in shared experiences on foot, from home and through their unique lens.
The camera, the point of connection, a means to continue to communicate across communities with a rare and raw insight to lived experience. We see living spaces, personal artefacts and lives less ordinary in extraordinary times.
Helen Jousselin
Juliet McEwan
Ijeoma Nwajiobi
Lesley Allen
Ajose Emmanuel Olade
Josephine Scriven
David Blyth
Rosemary Ashinze
Joyce Jacca
Amy Quinn
Julian Rouse
Avril Sydee
Eddy Naguin
Blanche McPherson
Beverley Francis
Andrea McNish
Bunty Kane
Claire Kelly
Sandra Leek
E M Mead
Eleisha Maton
Freda Ward
Dritan Dema
Fionuuala Kennedy
Jackie Bowness
Gerard C. Byrne
Ameila Cannon
Mary Baldwin
Grace Blyth
Jean Golder
Jenny Giles
Heval Erdemli
Stephen Edwards
Irina Bormotova
Anonymous
Jacqueline Ngare
Jo Rowe
John Allen
Eileen Doyce
Kate Middleton
Kitty Dawes
Lante Yan'Kyaa
Linden Pryce
Louis Dawkins
Lydia Kintu
Malcolm Cogman
Mr Lui
Michelle Simmons
Margaret Goldie
Michael Williams
Mohammed Talal
Maureen Burrell
Pat Hennessy
Ruth Leonard
Scott Cannon
Anonymous
Patrick Jordan
Pauline Maton
Peter Webb
Richard Wachholz
Winnie Carlson
Sandra McGregor
Sharon Williams
Yvonne Johnson
Diane Monitz
Sheila Warr
Stan Good
V Ward
Zisca Burton
Shirley Charles