Liverpool communities captured on camera at Open Eye Gallery

Liverpool’s Open Eye Gallery is staging an exhibition which celebrates the community and creativity of two key areas of the city.

The Flowers Still Grow, which runs at the Mann Island gallery until October 27, draws together projects which involve long-term collaborations between photographers, creative writers and communities in Anfield and Garston – celebrating the people who live there but also highlighting their experiences, concerns and aspirations.

The two-year creative residencies commissioned by the gallery and Culture Liverpool have been explored in People of Anfield and Childhood is a Garden.

People of Anfield, developed by photographer Emma Case and writer Pauline Rowe, has engaged people of all backgrounds and ages who live in the area to share conversations and ideas about Anfield.

Case and Rowe have worked closely with Anfield residents and a range of community organisations and spaces including Homebaked CLT, Liverpool Lighthouse, Kitty's Laundrette, Anfield Improvement District and Pinehurst Primary School, to develop works shown throughout the exhibition.

Above: Emma Case has captured 'People of Anfield' on camera. Top: An image by Sue from the Liverpool Lighthouse group.

Meanwhile Miriam Flüchter is a socially engaged artist who has been working with communities in Garston. Childhood is a Garden offers a multi-dimensional view of L19, aiming to paint a picture of the area that looks beyond the here and now, into the past and future, questioning what we have lost and what we wish for. 

During the two-year residency, Flüchter has worked closely with adults to explore what growing up in Garston was like for them and local children and young people living in the area now to examine the ingredients of an ideal neighbourhood through the lens of nostalgia, memory and dreams.

Above: The Old Cinema by Miriam Flüchter

Sophie Mahon, Open Eye Gallery's joint head of social practice, says: “Creative residencies in Anfield and Garston have enabled us to work closely and collaboratively with communities to showcase often sidelined voices of children, of local people and of broader social issues that impact Liverpool's communities.

“Our long-term community-based residencies have enabled us to support people in sharing their own experiences about the areas they live in, providing a platform for untold stories, moments of celebration and space for concerns to be voiced.

“We’re honoured to showcase works both at the gallery and locally in communities, using photography and writing to creatively and collaboratively tell stories of our communities across Liverpool.”

Open Eye is also currently running Next Up… its annual graduate showcase of work from the University of Salford’s MA in Socially Engaged Photography. Three early carry photographers – Rachel Beeson, David Contreras and Cyril Matthew – are represented in the exhibition.

The Flowers Still Grow is at the Open Eye Gallery until October 27. More details HERE