England’s New Lenses
Untold Heritage, 2020
Untold Heritage is part of England’s New Lenses, a partnership project with English Heritage through Shout Out Loud. Untold Heritage invited 13 – 25 year olds across England to explore their own sense of heritage through photography this summer. Young people were asked to share with us the stories they felt got left out of the history books, helping us discover alternative narratives around English heritage at this time.
Through an open call, a series of online workshops and learning resources devised by artists Alejandra Carles-Tolra and Annis Joslin, over 200 young people made new artwork documenting the people, places, and communities that have shaped them. The diverse range of images submitted to Untold Heritage demonstrates young people’s perspectives using creative approaches that explore family, friendship, relationships, community, and other themes close to our hearts such as pets, wildlife, heirlooms and places of personal significance.
Winning entries were selected by a judging panel consisting of young people connected with our programmes, Photoworks Curator Julia Bunnemann, Photoworks festival artist Ronan McKenzie and Dr Dominique Bouchard, Head of Learning & Interpretation at English Heritage. The judges were bowled over by the quality of the work, commenting on the powerful images and often beautiful connections between young photographers’ personal perspectives on heritage in relation to their present life.
Shout Out Loud is English Heritage’s national youth engagement programme delivered by partners Photoworks, National Youth Theatre, the Council for British Archaeology’s Young Archaeologists’ Club, and Sound Connections, with Associate Advisor BBC Children’s. Shout Out Loud is one of 12 Kick the Dust projects funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
‘The main connection to his heritage my Granddad shared with me was the food of his home country of Guyana. He was poor at sharing recipes, cooking too quickly and just getting on with it or sneaking in secret ingredients. A few years after he died, my mum and I both really specifically fancied something in the style of “jungle food”, as he called it, which involves fried plantain, dumplings, coconut-y sauce and often fresh fish. This image shows my mum’s hands, which I share, as she peels the tough skin of the plantain, I love all the softened points and tips and the proximity we feel looking at it.’
‘Me and my friends all have matching necklaces’
‘I was inspired by Walker Evans and his neat and organised manner. Dad’s tools will be an heirloom for me one day.’
‘Jean’
‘This is an image of a peacock made out of leaves and flowers laid out on the floor (called a pookalam) in order to celebrate a South Indian festival called Onam. We usually use flower petals but this year we went around our neighborhood and collected a few leaves and flowers to make a colorful flower mat to signify the return of Mahabali and the prosperity of the harvest season. This ancient legend has been celebrated from generation to generation of the people of Kerala from all over the world.’
‘My grandparents are seated with their grandchildren, telling them the story of our ancestors in the photographs. They are passing on their own memories to us so that our ancestors’ stories are not forgotten.’
‘This image is from the series, “Women from the Pakistani Diaspora”. It is a self-portrait composed in Birmingham that explores my mothers identity as an 18-year-old woman of Pakistani origin who emigrated to the United Kingdom. I have depicted these images by showcasing outfits that were worn by my mother over 35 years ago and by visiting the places that were significant to my mother’s life as a young migrant woman in Britain. The women from the Pakistani diaspora who relocated to the UK were very often the hardworking wives, daughters, mothers and grandmothers of individuals who had migrated from cities, towns and small villages in Pakistan. These individuals came to the UK to work in key industrial sectors and set up businesses that contributed towards the healthy economy of their new-found nation. Pakistani women provided a crucial envelopment of familiarity and comfort that gave their husbands, fathers, children and grandchildren a sense of their place of origin – making it a home away from home. My self-portrait collection seeks to recognise the existence and achievements of such Pakistani women and their role as the backbone of a community that transformed inner-city Britain. Today, British Pakistani women continue to revolutionise gender roles for other women through the determination, emotional support and encouragement of their female peer network.’
‘A few years ago I borrowed some studio lightening from my mums friend and set up a home studio to photograph dogs from the neighbourhood. This is my own dog Tom, he was a willing subject. He is a big part of my life, we bought him as a family whilst living in India and he travelled back with us to the UK and is now part of the history of my life. He will be 9 in November. The Labrador breed in Britain dates back to at least the 1830s, when it was first introduced from ships trading between the Labrador region of Canada and Poole in Dorsetshire. Its early patrons included the Earl of Malmesbury, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Home, and Sir John Scott.’
‘This image I selected to represent household I feel is very unique in telling my story of my family as there is slight diversity captured within one image which may lead to many questions about my household.’
‘This photo is of my cat called Seb sitting on a small chair meant for humans but he has decided to take his place on the chair.’
‘This image is part of “The Trevor Berry Archive”. I’m a photographer and the curator of the archive project featuring transparent slide mount images. Trevor Berry is the grandfather of my two half-sisters, he passed away before my birth; however his wife performed a role in my upbringing. Through collaboration and dialogue, I used oral history with Joyce Berry to unearth the legacies of their family life and the context behind the images.’
‘I want to explore the untold stories and heritage of Africans, to see that it’s not only about slavery but the rich culture we have as a continent.’
‘This is a photograph of my father that is White and my grandmother that is Black. My brother is the bridge that connects both family members together. Even though they’re sitting next to each other there is still separation and my brother is what holds them together as one.’
