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.
From 23 March to 20 May 2023, Impressions Gallery in Bradford, in collaboration with BD:Festival, invited people to look anew at the high streets across the Bradford district as part of Historic England’s and Photoworks’ Picturing High Streets project. From the Victorian grandeur of Keighley’s Arcade to the boutique-lined Grove in Ilkley, and the bustling markets and malls of Bradford, 50 photographs from over 800 were chosen by a panel of judges to create a contemporary picture of these meeting points of commerce, conversation, and community. The 50 winning photographs were exhibited outdoors across the city centre as part of BD:Festival in July 2023 and 10 were selected to join the Picturing High Streets national collection.
The photographer wrote the following text to explain how their image relates to this theme: "The Drum Winder is a popular pub on Bradford’s oldest street that opened in 2019. I happened to be walking past in my lunchbreak and loved the symmetry of the two mobility scooters, and the liveliness that can just be made out through the window. The pub does not serve food."
This is part of the Volume: HEC01/128/02/09 Picturing High Streets: Mass Participation Project - Bradford; 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
© Marcus Rattray
Photographer: Rattray, Marcus
Public House
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