This winter, photography exhibitions across the UK cast new light on often overlooked communities and histories. They demonstrate how the lens can be used to add nuance to complex political issues, like the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland and the negotiations over the Chagos Islands that are currently underway. These practitioners draw attention to the people behind the headlines, reminding viewers that we have more in common than that which divides us. Here, audiences can witness the work of Paul Graham and Peter Mitchell, whose 20th century photographs documented seismic social shifts; Audrey Albert’s celebration of Chagossian identity; Sian Davey’s intimate portrait of human relationships; and Open Eye Gallery’s retrospective of 1990s queer club culture.
Paul Graham (b. 1956) began taking photographs of the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland in 1984. The artist travelled to the country at the mid-point of the conflict, which lasted from the 1960s until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The period saw a continuation of historic tensions between those who wanted to see Northern Ireland join the Republic of Ireland and the unionists who wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom. Graham’s disquieting photographs, made between 1984 and 1986, avoided explicit representations of violence and subverted the traditions of British documentary style. Instead, the images initially appear to depict prosaic towns: rain-soaked, common-place settings with rolling hills below cloudy skies. It is not until closer inspection that viewers discover, for example, Republican posters pasted on lampposts or a Union Flag flying atop a tree. These vignettes reveal how the “Troubles” permeated the entirety of both rural and urban life in Northern Ireland.
Curator and author Val Williams described Peter Mitchell (b. 1943) as “a narrator of who we were, a chaser of a disappearing world.” His work captures the people and places of the Leeds as the city rapidly changed throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Mitchell would often photograph a shop front or a row of houses one week, only for them to disappear the next. Now, almost 50 years since his first exhibition, Nothing Lasts Forever is a retrospective of an impressive career. The exhibition includes iconic series, including the 1978 examination of the Quarry Hill estate, a place that Mitchell had never photographed until the first signs of demolition appeared. In an interview with The Guardian, he said: “I photograph dying buildings and Quarry Hill was terminal by the time I got to it. Times change and I know there was no point in keeping Quarry Hill flats. But what it stood for might have been worth keeping.” The pictures are emblematic of a lifetime dedicated to photographing with warmth and compassion.
The Chagos Islands are an archipelago in the Indian Ocean and a British oversea territory. In the 1960s, the UK Government allowed the creation of a US military base on the islands as part of the Cold War. Between 1967 and 1973, Britain removed the Chagossians, native inhabitants of the area, giving them the option of moving to either Seychelles or Mauritius. Many Chagossians have been fighting for their right to return to their home for decades. In October 2024, it was announced that control of the islands would be transferred to Mauritius. Now, the first UK solo show of Mauritian-Chagossian artist, Audrey Albert, brings visibility to the issue at a time of instrumental change. Belongers looks at how the community represents itself in countries that have never quite been “home”. Albert said: “For a lot of us, this … is about survival, resistance and resilience. It is about our lived experiences as Chagossian natives and descendants. It’s how we heal and how we come together to create joyful spaces.”
Section 28 was a law introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1988 that made it criminal for local authorities and schools to “promote” homosexuality, silencing the voices of queer people. It was not repealed until 2003. At the same time, the AIDS crisis tore through communities. The 1990s saw LGBTQIA+ people deal with these devastating realities, yet there were still joyful spaces where people danced, loved and came together to be themselves. For Your Pleasure reflects on and celebrates the decade’s fledgling queer club culture. The exhibition at Open Eye Gallery is curated by DuoVision. The creative team made up of Martin Green and James Lawler summarise the feeling they hope to capture, saying: “Once upon a time there were cities where squats were legal, rents affordable and old nightclubs sat empty. In these recession-hit places, kids from mixed backgrounds played and created together. Music was made, clubs were formed, boundaries were broken and great times were had. This was the UK in the early 1990s.”
Sian Davey (b. 1964) came to photography after a career in psychotherapy, a professional background that continues to inform her art. Her images chart the daily rituals and dynamics of family life and friendships with an awareness of both the human struggle for connection and the shifting, complicated bond between artist and subject. Davey explained: “As a psychotherapist I have listened to many stories. It is interesting that what has been revealed to me after fifteen years of practice is not how different we are to one another but rather how alike we are. It is what we share that is significant. The stories vary but we all share the same emotions, we are all vulnerable to feelings of anger, grief, depression and so on.” Martin Parr Foundation brings together Davey’s major series, revealing a powerful oeuvre. Looking For Alice (2013 – 2018) features her daughter, who was born with Downs Syndrome, whilst Martha (2015 – 2016) came as a result of her stepdaughter asking why the lens was never focused on her.
Words: Emma Jacob
Flag in Tree, County Tyrone, 1985. Paul Graham. © Paul Graham. Image courtesy of Huxley Parlour.
Two anonymous ladies, Tivoli Cinema, Acre Road, Leeds. Taken from Sisson’s Lane, 1976.
Leanna and Shannah; Chagossian heritage on the de-privatised and free Pomponette beach in Bel Air, Mauritius.
Image by Jon Shard.
From the series The Garden, 2021-2023 © Siân Davey, courtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery.
