As part of the Artist in Residence Programme, award-winning documentary photographer Rich Wiles worked with two groups – Dalton Youth & Community Centre and the Serenity Allotment Project – to create photography and words work based on their lives and place in Rotherham.
Members of the Serenity Allotment Project, a small, informal substance recovery group, adopted the idea of thinking about ‘their landscapes’, or the places they spend time in, taking photos of these and writing about them.
At Dalton Youth & Community Centre, eight young participants set out with disposable cameras to produce images exploring elements of their own lives and identity. The images were presented in an exciting photography exhibition, The Stories We Chose To Tell, alongside a series of collaborative portraits in which Wiles pressed his camera's shutter release, but the context and locations again came from the young participants.
All participants chose which aspects of their lives to present through this work. They also selected their own final images and then added text layers to further amplify their voices.
The free exhibition took place from November 2022 to January 2023 at Riverside Gallery, Riverside House, Rotherham.
Seven of the young people who took part in the project were also supported in achieving their Bronze Arts Award, a nationally-recognised qualification, by the Early Help team and Children’s Capital of Culture.
Community partners: Dalton Youth & Community Centre, Eastwood; Serenity Allotment group
About Artist in Residence
From February to June 2022, Rotherham residents had the opportunity to work with five professional artists to explore how creativity, art and culture could benefit their community. Artists Mandy Keating, Rich Wiles, Rosie Carnall and Geotone’s Andy and Paul were appointed to co-produce creative work with local people in four areas of the borough including Maltby, Wath, and two central wards.
