VICTORIOUS VOICES: DEANSGATE

Manchester, 2025

Victorious Voices opened on Deansgate on 3rd February 2025, bringing 17 survivor portraits into a shopfront space on one of Manchester’s busiest streets. Free to visit for two weeks, the exhibition placed black-and-white photographs and first-person testimonies within the movement of the city.

This was a deliberate setting for the work. People could encounter the portraits on their way to work, while shopping, or simply by looking through the window. Some would choose to come inside and spend time with the stories; others might see a face or a few words as they passed. In either case, survivors were present in a public place where childhood sexual abuse is rarely spoken about openly.

Each portrait asked visitors to see a person before making assumptions about what a survivor looks like. The accompanying testimonies gave participants room to speak in their own words about their experiences, their lives, and what healing means to them. Together, image and text challenged the idea that survivor stories belong only in private conversations or specialist settings.

The Deansgate exhibition continued the project’s journey through everyday spaces, following its three-month display at 92 Degrees. It also marked a moment of growing recognition for the work: during the exhibition, photographer Martin Parr visited for a private tour and spoke with Lee Cooper about the project.

On a street defined by constant movement, Victorious Voices created a reason to stop. For two weeks, survivor stories occupied a visible place in Manchester’s cultural life, inviting the city to look, read and listen.