In 2022-23 Historic England commissioned several photographers to work with local communities to capture images representative of their local high streets. This formed part of the Picturing High Streets project. In Prescot, Lucy Hunter was commissioned as photographer. She wrote the following text to describe her work on the project: "I was given a micro-commission to work in the Prescot area. As part of the foundations for this project, we agreed it was important to situate ourselves on the high street and get to know the local community. We set up a stall showing archive images of Prescot, and this often sparked a conversation. On one of these occasions, we met a group of school children, who quickly took about Photographing the archival shots as well as us on their iPads. Prescot Primary School is an Apple Distinguished School, meaning that every child has their own iPad which they will keep 25/7 ownership of from Y2 up until Y6. Upon hearing about the Picturing England’s High Street project, the school were keen to be involved and following a meeting with the deputy head a few weeks later an after-school club was formed comprising of 10 Digi-leaders. At Prescot Primary there are a number of student leadership groups, one of these being the Digi Leaders. They are a group of Year 5 students (aged 9/10) who support the computer hubs at lunchtime and also help teachers with any issues. We met weekly for an hour after school. Using the iPad cameras, we began to explore the idea of portraiture, perspective and place. Due to time restraints and logistical challenges, it wasn’t possible to visit the high street on more than a couple of occasions. We decided to use this constraint to our advantage and consider how we can bring the high street to our sessions without physically going there. The children drew their own panoramic high street, reimagining the space and creating their own designs. Walked on it, sat on it, Another way in which we brought the high street to our sessions was through light projections. Using the children’s photographs of a trip to the high street, they then repositioned one another back in the space, playing with light, shadow and movement. On our 9th session, we revisited the high street and walked around the space, the children were again encouraged to make a portrait. This time the children’s approach seemed quite different, and their confidence and creativity had really grown since the initial visit a few months before. Over the course of the sessions, themes around textures and layers emerged. We often spoke of the Pizza of Prescot with its toppings of pavements, cobbled streets, shop fronts, roof tops, alley ways, reflections, nature, wildlife, shadows and many, many more. Through their work both individually and collaboratively the children have created a multi-layered portrait of a high street, sharing their own experience and perspective of the area. They have repurposed the space, using it as a source of inspiration and a newfound playground." 'Picturing England's High Streets' commissioned by Open Eye Gallery, Historic England and Photoworks. This work was produced as a collaboration between Lucy Hunter and Prescot Primary School Digi-Club: Maisie Ambrose, Isla Lawton, Jacob Barker, Lucas Vine, Mollie Sampson, Ethan Tyrer, Annie Raven, Fin Leary, Frankie Owen, Tejaswi Ganjam.
This is part of the Volume: HEC01/128/01/02 Picturing High Streets Photographer Residencies - Lucy Hunter: Prescot; within the Sub Series: HEC01/128/01 Picturing High Streets: Photographer Residencies; within the Series: HEC01/128 Picturing High Streets; within the Collection: HEC01 Historic England
© Lucy Hunter
Creator of Archive: Hunter, Lucy
Childhood
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