Series: Swindon Snapshots Project

Description

In 2023 the Historic England Archive was contacted by the English Heritage Youth Engagement Team, who were interested in ‘coordinating an archives-based project, where a small group of young people are able to tour the archives and look at archival documents.’ This collaborative project evolved into a multiple-session project with Youth Action Wiltshire’s Splash youth group.

Two photograph collections from the Historic England Archive were used as inspiration for photography workshops at Avebury Stone Circle (Alexander Keiller Collection ALK01) and Swindon’s historic Railway Village and town centre (Andor Gomme Collection GOM01), led by Historic England’s Lead Photographer, James O Davies. The results of the photography exercises were to feature in an exhibition at Swindon Central Library’s Courtyard Gallery, alongside copies of photographs from the Keiller and Gomme collections. Participants were also given the opportunity to submit a selection of their photographs for inclusion in the Historic England Archive.

Four project sessions were held with Splash, two at The Engine House and two on location at Avebury and Swindon. On 11 January 2024, Splash visited The Engine House for the first session, which introduced the group to the Historic England Archive, the collections we would be working with and the Avebury landscape. The second session took place on 13 January 2024 at Avebury. Under the guidance of James O Davies, the young people reproduced a selection of photographs from the Alexander Keiller Collection and took additional photographs based on a brief given by James. The third session took place at The Engine House on 10 February 2024 with a practical photography session taking place in Swindon’s Railway Village and town centre, principally Regent Street. The fourth session took place on 12 February, with the group returning to The Engine House to select images for the planned exhibition. The young people also visited the Archive Store to see where and how the Keiller and Gomme photographs were stored, and to see how the Archive’s Digitisation Suite functioned.

The Inspired!: Avebury and Swindon, then and now exhibition was launched with a family and friends private view event on 7 March 2024. The exhibition was then open to the public until 18 April 2024. Images from Inspired! have also been put on display at The Engine House for staff and visitors to enjoy.

Feedback from the group included the following comments:

• ‘James has really made me think I think I want to become a photographer!’ • ‘I’ve really enjoyed the photography, it’s cool learning different ways of taking photos’ • ‘I liked taking portraits of people the most’ • ‘I’d go back to Avebury when it’s summer! I didn’t realise how old the rocks were’ • ‘I’ve really enjoyed this project, it’s cool seeing our pictures on the wall’ • ‘It’s made me think differently about where I live’ • ‘I think I’ll appreciate more things everyday now I know almost anything’s worth a photograph’ • ‘I loved visiting the archive! Never been anywhere like that before’

Content

This is part of the Collection: HEC01 Historic England

This Series contains the following materials:

Photograph (Digital): 1

Rights

© Lucas Barefoot