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 Stoke, Natalie Willatt was commissioned as photographer. She wrote the following text to describe her work on the project: " 'Stoke' is derived from the Old English 'stoc', a word that at first meant little more than place, but which gained more specific connotations. These variant meanings included meeting place and place of worship. As Photographer in Residence in the historic town of Stoke, Natalie worked alongside diverse communities, each a part of the town, and each welcoming in to their places of congregation. With a focus on belief and faith, in its broadest sense, Natalie’s main interest is in the behaviours and gestures of people partaking in worship, music, football and heritage. In dancing with church goers at the close of a thanksgiving service; being one of many voices singing Delilah in the wake of a football win; observing a moment of quiet reflection over Diwali candles and in pausing to listen between bell rings, here Natalie has found moments of reflection, expressions of faith and a celebration of community. These photographs of congregation and union offer an alternative view to the commonly held idea of the deserted and neglected high street. Amidst dwindling footfall, a celebration of life can still be found behind closed doors." The following information was submitted by the photographer in relation to this image: "I had been chatting to members of the Gurdwara congregation over a few visits and they had told me how important having their space on the high street is. The Sikh population in Stoke is quite spread out across all the six towns and this is one of the only places for families to meet with each other regularly. This is even more important on special celebrations such as Diwali. The Gurdwara was very busy all evening, with people coming to light a mixture of home-made and bought candles. Some of the candles were made from salt dough earlier in the day and bought along to the Gurdwara. This photograph was taken when there was a short gap in the flow of people lighting candles, when the woman in the frame was taking a moment to pause and reflect." 'Picturing England's High Streets' commission by GRAIN, Historic England and Photoworks.
This is part of the Job: HEC01/128/01/05/01 Picturing High Streets Photographer Residencies - Natalie Willatt: Stoke, Photographer's Images; within the Volume: HEC01/128/01/05 Picturing High Streets Photographer Residencies - Natalie Willatt: Stoke; 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
© Natalie Willatt
Photographer: Willatt, Natalie
People Posed, Religion
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