At the turn of the twenty-first century, a prestigious ‘Year of the Artist’ Award (running from June 2000 to May 2001) allowed me to embark on an intensive residency documenting the beautifully diverse communities of Cheetham Hill and Broughton in Manchester. My journey led me to a local community centre where African-Caribbean men gathered once a week to share coffee, tea, and intense games of dominoes.
The room was poorly lit, presenting a technical challenge: how to capture the profound depth of a group of men in a single frame without disruptive flash photography. Drawing inspiration from classical textbook portraiture, I established a common visual thread: a single wooden chair positioned in a doorway. Using only the soft, natural daylight spilling through the frame, I invited the men to sit for individual portraits. Captured on negative film using a borrowed vintage Canon AE-1 camera with a standard 50mm lens, these images required a leap of faith. Working in isolation without an immediate way to view the results, I was never entirely certain if I had done justice to the warmth and dignity of my subjects.
Decades later, these portraits stand as an exquisite, enduring record of community, resilience, and quiet strength. This deeply personal body of work was coordinated by the Manchester Jewish Museum and has been proudly exhibited at Manchester Cathedral, Crumpsall Library (Abraham Moss Centre), and as part of the historic ‘One Hundred Years of Cheetham and Broughton’ exhibition.
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Date:
5 March 2021
