PLACES NOWHERE

Manchester | Feb 2025

In February 2025, I exhibited Places Nowhere for two weeks upstairs from Victorious Voices on Deansgate. It was the first time visitors could move between these two parts of my practice in the same space. Downstairs, Victorious Voices presented portraits and testimonies made with survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Upstairs, Places Nowhere offered a quieter journey through the streets, buildings and fleeting moments I had photographed in Britain and America.

The work began with a habit of walking and looking. I find myself drawn to places that seem ordinary at first: a shopfront after closing, a weathered sign, a lone figure moving through a street. The photographs leave room for the viewer to notice their own details and make their own connections. Some speak to change or isolation; others simply hold the atmosphere of a place at a particular moment.

Showing these images above Victorious Voices gave me a chance to share a fuller picture of what I do as a photographer. The projects have different subjects and ways of working, but both grew from paying attention to people and places that are easily passed by. I liked that someone coming in from the bustle of Deansgate could encounter both in one visit.

One of the photographs upstairs was The Recession. During the exhibition, Martin Parr came to see the work. Standing in front of that image, he told me that if I could make ten more photographs like it, I’d be just fine. It was a wonderfully direct piece of encouragement from a photographer whose eye for everyday life has long influenced me. More than anything, it made me want to keep going out with my camera and trust what catches my attention.

You can find The Recession in my Print Store.