FACES OF BANKSIDE

SOLO EXHIBITION JUNE 2022

2022 was the 50th anniversary of Pride in London, and my local community organisation on Bankside wanted to put on an exhibition to celebrate this fact.  They wanted portraits of volunteers from our local LGBTQ+ community to be shown alongside the narrative of their lived experiences. They approached several photographers with the commission, including me.  Primarily they wanted a local photographer (which I am), and ideally a queer photographer. Although I am a CIS gender woman, my daughter is queer, and she and her wife had just given us the most adorable granddaughter, so the commissioners could see that is a community super close to my lived experience and my heart, and gave me the commission, which was a huge privilege and responsibility.

I contacted each of the 12 volunteers and asked each of them to choose a spot in our local area that held a special meaning for them for whatever reason, and I said we’d do the shoot there. Some chose a place because it’s where they go on Date Night, others because it’s where they go to light a candle and remember their Mum and Dad, and another because it’s close to a place where a friend committed suicide.  Each shoot was a very emotional experience.