In Development

This is Us: A Portrait of Modern Britain

Britain is always changing. Every day we shape the country we share through the lives we lead, the people we meet and the choices we make. Some of us live our lives in the public eye; most of us do not. Together we create the story of modern Britain.

With this in mind I have embarked on a long-term photographic project called This is Us. Through portraiture I want to create an enduring body of work that reflects the people who are living, working or spending part of their lives in Britain today. Every portrait will stand as an individual photograph while contributing to a wider visual record of contemporary Britain.

This project gives me the opportunity to take my photography to the next level while creating a body of work that I hope will resonate with audiences beyond my local community. Looking further ahead, my ambition is to present This is Us as a gallery exhibition and publish it as a book, allowing the work to continue its journey beyond this website.

Alongside the development of the wider body of work, individual portraits and groups of images will be submitted to selected national and international photographic competitions. These entries will provide an opportunity for the work to reach new audiences and for individual photographs to be considered on their own merits, while remaining part of the larger This is Us project.

This is Us is developing in three phases. The first has been a period of reflection and research, defining the project's purpose, refining its visual language and establishing the foundations on which it will grow. The second phase, which is now beginning, is where the photography starts and is an opportunity to test and fine tune the project's remit. The third phase is when it will grow more organically through recommendations, introductions and self-referrals.

Every photographer inevitably begins with the people and communities they already know. One of my aims is to move beyond those familiar circles and reduce the risk of unconscious bias influencing the work. By inviting suggestions from others and encouraging participants to recommend people they believe should be included, I hope the project becomes broader, richer and more representative of modern Britain.

The project is still in its earliest stages. The research has been completed, conversations have begun and a number of people have already expressed an interest in taking part. The first portraits will be made as Phase Two gets underway.

Perhaps one of those portraits could be yours.

If you would like to take part, know someone who would make an interesting subject, or would like to suggest a person or community you believe should be included, I'd love to hear from you.

Every suggestion will be considered on its own merits. Not every conversation will lead to a portrait, but every conversation has the potential to broaden the project and strengthen the picture it is trying to build.

Send your suggestions to me here, telling me who you are suggesting, whether it’s you or someone else, and why you think they should be included.