Picturing High Streets was a three-year project delivered by Photoworks to create a contemporary picture of England’s high streets through artist residencies and a public call out. It was part of the High Streets Heritage Action Zones Cultural Programme, and produced in partnership with GRAIN Projects, Impressions Gallery, Open Eye Gallery, London College of Communications, Photofusion, QUAD/FORMAT, Redeye, ReFramed and The Photographers’ Gallery.
From September 2022 to September 2023, people across England responded to themed fortnightly challenges and submitted their photographs on Instagram under the hashtag #PicturingHighStreets. All entries created an unofficial archive documenting a year in the life of the English high street on Instagram, and a selection form this permanent collection in the Historic England Archive.
This photograph was selected to represent the theme ‘Bright Lights for Dark Nights’. The brief for this theme was: ‘From Diwali to Halloween to Fireworks Night, high streets host many celebrations that make dark nights sparkle. These atmospheric scenes reflect how high streets are spaces for communities to connect. Each is a moment that transforms the darkness into something magical.’
The photographer wrote the following text to explain how their image relates to this theme: "I was visiting Lancaster Light Nights and spotted Tom’s work on this street. I wanted to capture how his installation had lit up an otherwise dark street, with people loitering and taking selfies. On first glance you see a busy street of people admiring the work. But if you follow the line of light on the cobbled road, you see a little girl with the bobble hat in the darkness (left of the frame) just beyond the signs saying ‘Don’t give up on future generations’. It felt very apt and I quickly managed to photograph her in the shadows before the family moved on to the next artwork on the trail!"
This is part of the Volume: HEC01/128/02/03 Picturing High Streets: Mass Participation Project - Bright Lights for Dark Nights; within the Sub Series: HEC01/128/02 Picturing High Streets: Mass Participation Project; within the Series: HEC01/128 Picturing High Streets; within the Collection: HEC01 Historic England
© Marge Bradshaw
Photographer: Bradshaw, Marge
Artist: Biddulph, Tom
Night Scene, Street Scene
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